Ajax dearly wanted to learn to be able to use a sword like the heroic Space Marine battling three others in the arena below.
Growing up on tales of King Arthur, movies with laser swords, and mangas where a lone swordsman could slash the world in two, Ajax had become infatuated with the idea of facing the world with nothing but a sword in hand.
The world Ajax had first lived in had, for all intents and purposes, been dominated by firearms, leaving no room for the dreams of swordsman wannabe. Oddly enough, the far future saw a rebirth of the melee weapon as a common tool of war. Ajax thought that this was a result of constant struggle between defense and offense being made somewhat more even. In Ajax's first life, guns, missiles, and artillery had been so much more effective than countermeasures to stop them.
Xenos of the far future were tough as old jerky, and they, oftentimes, could close with troops before ranged firepower could defeat them. Thus, the rebirth of melee weapons began.
Ajax was not naive enough to believe he could ever hope to duel something that a Space Marine might battle in melee combat, but being armed and dangerous for when the enemy came to close quarters was an essential survival technique in the 30th millennium. Shaking off the stunned state he had entered, Ajax remembered why he had come to this training hall to begin with.
'My powers as a logokine allow me to master nearly all languages, including non-verbal communication. If you really think about it, a duel between roughly equally matched and armed individuals is a lot like a conversation or a debate.'
'Thrust and riposte replacing argument and counterargument. The combatant's body language allows their opponent to read their intent, and can even be used to deceive each other about what move is coming next. A duel is a lot like an argument, just about who dies, with the consequences of arguments becoming reality.'
'Since the Warp seems to operate conceptually, I hope I can start to pick up the 'language' of the sword by mimicking the long-haired Marine. I don't think any Marine would take the time to mentor me in the blade, especially not in a relatively stuffy legion like the Dark Angels, so this might be my best bet to learn how to use a sword well. But I should probably start small.'
With his eyes locked to the long-haired Marine's feet, Ajax began to try to mimic the Marine's movements. It was very clumsy at first. Ajax tripped himself up more than once, and landed face first on the ground at least twice. It was really hard since the Marine was obviously a master swordsman.
It was like trying to learn basic math by watching a mathematician do an abstract algebra problem on a chalkboard. It was really hard to find any patterns as there was an ungodly amount unknown information being thrown at him.
Besides the fact that warriors actively tried to disguise any patterns in their fighting, the Marine Ajax was watching probably didn't need to follow strict patterns in fighting anymore. His mastery allowed him to flow freely between moves without a defined sequence.
A novice might be taught an initial combo of moves, but the more mastery a swordsman gained the less they would need to rely on defined combos to chain together their attacks. Instead, an intermediate swordsman might chain together attacks based on how they understand the 'rules' of sword fighting, the current fight situation, and their personal style.
A master swordsman might intentionally break 'rules' of sword fighting to disrupt his opponent, choose attacks based on the present and his estimation of the future, and shift styles to confound an opponent's intuition. A master played chess whereas an intermediate played checkers.
Ajax had managed to pick up on a couple general principles, like rarely crossing one foot in front of the other as that weakened your base and allowed you to be pushed over more easily. That was why he was currently laying face down. 'Well, I wasn't so much pushed over. I more so fell over like a dumbass. The logokine abilities aren't making this easy, they're barely making this shit possible.'
Ajax was feeling like an idiot, but he was also making some progress. He had noticed the long haired Marine never crossed his feet unless he had a plan that required it for deception or a quick pivot out of that position.
He maintained balance by stepping forward with his front foot first in an advancing step following with his trailing foot. It was sort of a shuffle that went against Ajax's instincts, but it maintained balance and lines of attack. Ajax mentally named the move 'the Advancing Step' or 'Advance'.
Ajax had also noticed that sometimes the Marine allowed himself to be pushed back, using the enemy's momentum to gain space. Upon landing, the Marine used the transferred momentum to load up his back leg like a spring and then explode forward back at the enemy.
This false retreat turned into an attack was reminiscent of the tactics of horse archers in ancient times. Horse archers like the Mongols, the Huns, and (famously) the Parthians would feign retreat to draw foot troops into a chase. Then the horse archers would turn in their saddles and fire behind their horses in a maneuver that famously became called the Parthian shot. Ajax decided to call this step the 'Parthian Step' or 'Parthian'.
A screen popped up across the Ajax's vision saying:
>>[New Quest added to the Archive: Learn and Master 5 basic swordplay 'Steps' + 50 AP]
As Ajax was picking himself up from the ground, the long haired Marine got serious. In a series of brilliant flashing cuts, the Marine disarmed all three of his opponents in a matter of moments.
Two of the Marines slumped on the ground in defeat with clear frustration across their faces, the lone Marine in a blue robe knelt on one knee with a wry smile on his face. The long haired Marine spoke," You all did quite well. I apologize for having to result to brute speed, but I wouldn't have been able to end the fight quickly otherwise. Legion matters can only wait for so long, so our bout had to end."
The three Marines quickly stood and saluted the long haired Marine with the Fist of Unification before shouting,"It was our honor, Grand Master Thrane!". The long haired Marine, who Ajax now knew was Hector Thrane, jumped out of the arena, clearing the four meter wall, handed his blade to a mortal serf, and walked off with a purposeful stride.
Hector Thrane, according to Ajax's memory, had been the first Grand Master of the Dark Angels. Because the Primarchs had been scattered across the galaxy by the Chaos Gods and Erda, the Legions were led by a Space Marine commander until their Primarch was rediscovered. Reuniting the Primarchs, who were gene-fathers of their, with their Legion of genetic sons.
Hector Thrane had been the first to bear that mantle, but Ajax believed he had been followed by at least one more Grand Master, which meant that Hector Thrane had perished. Ajax could not for the life of him remember how,or when, Thrane had perished. Ajax didn't have enough standing as a simple officer of an Imperial Army regiment, even one of the Old Hundred, to seek audience with the master of the 1st Legion.
'I am going to have to keep observing him if I want to see what peak swordplay looks like. But, I shouldn't limit my knowledge to only watching Lord Thrane. Viewing the various stages of development of sword skill should allow me to get a larger sample size and context to put his moves into context.'
Ajax watched the three Space Marines stand at attention for a few minutes after Lord Thrane had departed. Complicated expressions sat upon the visages of the Dark Angels. A contemplative look graced the features of the Ultramarine. To Ajax, the Dark Angels looked like they were determining the best way to crush the insurmountable obstacle that was the Grand Master. The Ultramarine looked as though he was dissecting his performance, considering the path to travel over this obstacle, and planning his next actions with judicious care.
The three Marines broke formation as one, leaping out of the pit arena, and walking straight towards Ajax. Ajax was experiencing the full force of trans-human dread as two brooding, and one contemplative, Space Marines walked right towards him.
***Author's Note: I have renamed the series in anticipation of making it standalone and not relying on Waharmmer 40k IP. I have heard that Games Workshop is not a fan of fan projects. I am trying to get ahead of any issues that might come in the future. I will update you all when I have made those story changes. Thanks for reading!