Raskta Lsu, a Echani female Jedi Master and solider in General Hoth's Army of Light.
Raskta Lsu was the most skilled martial artist in the Jedi Order of her time.
Raskta Lsu attained the rank of Jedi Weapons Master, transforming herself into a living weapon.
She had achieved the rare and prestigious rank of Jedi Weapons Master. Eschewing all other fields of study and forsaking the development of her other Force talents to focus exclusively on the lightsaber and combat, she had transformed herself into a living weapon. - Darth Bane: Rule of Two
This is significant because they are regarded as the greatest warriors in the Jedi Order, and only a handful of beings in the Jedi Order's 25000-year history have ever been elevated to this rank (The legendary duelists Mace Windu and Vodo Siosk Baas among them).
Is it battle that stirs you, to meet an enemy blade upon blade? Such is the way of the greatest of the Jedi warriors…the Weapon Masters. - Knights of the Old Republic II (Kreia)
This also means Raskta Lsu made fighting the central focus of her union with the Force.
Raskta Lsu was a master of multiple, if not all forms of lightsaber combat, being a Jedi Weapons Master and being tasked with training Padawans in the seven forms of lightsaber combat.
Now tasked with training apprentices in the forms of lightsaber combat, Raskta had been part of the campaign on Ruusan. - Darth Bane: Rule of Two
Without any form of armor, Raskta Lsu cut swaths of destruction through the heart of enemy ranks on Ruusan, leaving a litter of bodies in her wake and killing more Sith Lords than the Thought Bomb.
Wielding a blue-bladed lightsaber in each hand, and shunning any form of armor, she was a terrifying figure to behold on the battlefield. Johun vividly remembered her carving great swaths of destruction through the heart of the enemy ranks, leaving a litter of bodies in her wake. It was said that, by the end of the war, as many Sith Lords had fallen under her twin blades as had been killed by the thought bomb. - Darth Bane: Rule of Two
And over a thousand Sith Lords were participating in the Thought Bomb ritual.
More than a thousand highly trained minds were focused on a single task. - Dark Forces: Jedi Knight
This is significant because Sith Lords in this war were the counterparts to Jedi Masters.
"The academies on Dathomir and Iridonia are most similar to the one here. There apprentices study under Sith Masters. Those who succeed in their training become the adepts and acolytes who swell the ranks of our armies. They are the counterparts to the Jedi Knights who stand in the way of our ultimate conquest.
"But even as the Jedi Knights must answer to the Jedi Masters, so must the adepts and acolytes answer to the Sith Lords. And those with the potential to become Sith Lords-and only those with such potential-are trained here on Korriban." - Darth Bane: Path of Destruction
And each Sith Lord was said to be more powerful than an entire division of troopers.
They might have been only fifty in number, but each one of them was a Sith Lord: more powerful than an entire division of soldiers. - Darth Bane: Path of Destruction
Raskta Lsu, true to her status as a weapons master, is familiar with various forms of lightsaber armament. As a master of Jar'kai, Raskta Lsu is an expert in dual-bladed fencing.
The first group-a female Echani wielding a blue lightsaber in each hand and a Jedi Master in garish clothes with a golden blade- charged straight for Bane. - Darth Bane: Rule of Two
She was also familiar enough with the saberstaff to train her Padawan, Sarro Xaj, in its use.
Sarro had chosen to follow in his Master's path, focusing on mastering a massive double-bladed lightsaber measuring almost three meters in length. - Darth Bane: Rule of Two
She was also able to recognize the nature of Bane's curved hilt and adapt to it, her warning to Farfalla sparing the Jedi Master an amputation.
The Jedi Master dropped into an elegant defensive stance to meet the charge.
"The handle!" Raskta gasped as she scrambled to her feet.
The warning caused Farfalla to notice the hook-handled light-saber of his enemy, and the unusual grip it required. This would alter the nature of his attacks, causing them to come in from odd and unfamiliar angles. In the regimented and hyperprecise world of Jedi-Sith lightsaber duels, it transformed his style into something unique and unexpected.
Valenthyne recognized, processed, and reacted to this information in a fraction of a second, allowing him to adjust his own weapon's course just enough to block a strike that otherwise would have slipped along the edge of his blade and taken his arm off at the elbow. - Darth Bane: Rule of Two
While augmented by Battle Meditation, Raskta could neutralize an Orbalisk encrusted Darth Bane's assault and landed half a dozen strikes on Bane's armored abdomen.
As they burst into the room a man who could only have been Darth Bane charged recklessly toward them. In any other instance the move would have spelled a quick end to the encounter, as Raskta raced ahead of Farfalla to carve the Sith to pieces.
Raska's blue blades flickered too quickly for the eye to see, neutralizing her enemy's initial, wild attack then landing half a dozen lethal blows to his chest and abdomen. - Darth Bane: Rule of Two
While fueled by Battle Meditation, Raskta Lsu can deflect Darth Bane's lightning barrage with her lightsabers, presumably with Soresu. At the same time, Vallenthyne Farfalla, one of the seven greatest Jedi Lords in the Army of the Light, was incapable of doing so, even though he, too, was augmented by Battle Meditation.
Farfalla saw the Sith Lord turn toward him, sensing the intervention that had saved Raskta's life. Bane unleashed a barrage of Sith lightning, gathering and releasing his power at the speed of thought. The Jedi threw up a Force barrier to shield himself, but the electricity tore right through it and arced toward him. Then suddenly Raskta was there to save his life, repaying a debt that was only a few seconds old as she threw herself in front of him. Fueled by Worror's battle meditation, she switched styles seamlessly, and her arms and blades became a blur as they carved figure eights in the air to catch and absorb the bolts of dark side energy. - Darth Bane: Rule of Two
While fueled by Battle Meditation, Raskta Lsu could temporarily drive an orbalisk encrusted Darth Bane on the defensive, though this may or may not have been a deceptive ploy on Bane's part to attack Worror.
He spun back to the fight to see that the Echani Weapons Master had taken the offensive, sending quick flicks of her blue blades toward Bane's unprotected face-the only spot on his body seemingly not covered by the impenetrable shells. Remarkably, Bane was giving ground.
"Stay back!" she shouted at Farfalla. "You'll just get in the way."
Farfalla did as he was told, gathering the energies of the light side to throw up another protective Force barrier should Bane try to unleash his dark side powers against the Echani.
She seemed to be everywhere at once-in front of Bane, beside him, behind him, circling low, leaping to come in high, deflecting his blade with one of her own then stabbing three quick times in succession at his eyes. The big man's head ducked and bobbed, twisting and turning to avoid her blows as he tried to mount a counteroffensive.
Raskta's mastery of her blades was unparalleled, but even with her talents augmented by Worror's battle meditation she wasn't able to land a telling blow on such a small target through Bane's defenses. Still, the ferocity of her new strategy had turned the momentum in her favor ... or so Farfalla thought.
Bane continued his retreat, circling away from Raskta's blades, then suddenly turned and ran straight toward the unarmed Ithorian standing just inside the door of the room. - Darth Bane: Rule of Two
Raskta's mastery of the lightsaber was unparalleled.
Raskta's mastery of her blades was unparalleled - Darth Bane: Rule of Two
Raskta Lsu, while amped by Battle Meditation, was capable of maintaining a defense against an orbalisk-encrusted Darth Bane without giving ground.
The shimmering field exploded into fragments as the Dark Lord broke free, though the momentary delay had allowed the Echani to place herself between the Ithorian and the Sith.
Raskta's blades hummed and sang as she engaged him again, determined to keep him from reaching Master Worror at all costs. - Darth Bane: Rule of Two
Raskta Lsu is so skilled and good with teamwork she can thrive off of the presence of a relatively clumsy duelist.
And while Johun's own clumsy efforts had actually seemed to impede Sarro when they fought side by side, Raskta appeared to thrive off his presence. When he went high, she went low. If he came from the left, she came from the right. - Darth Bane: Rule of Two
While augmented by Battle Meditation, Raskta can drive an orbalisk-encrusted Darth Bane up against a wall alongside Farfalla and Johun.
Suddenly invigorated, they backed her Master up against a wall, concentrating their attacks on his face and the joints of his wrist where the orbalisks had left tiny gaps in his armor. - Darth Bane: Rule of Two
While augmented by Battle Meditation, Raskta Lsu could slide behind Bane and kick his legs out from under him.
Knowing that her lightsabers couldn't penetrate Bane's armor, she slid in from behind and scissor-kicked his legs out from under him. He toppled over backward, turning his fall into a roll that ended with him back on his feet. - Darth Bane: Rule of Two
Raskta Lsu's species views physical combat as the highest form of art and personal expression.
She was almost as tall as Johun, with the muscles and physique one would expect in a species that valued physical combat as the highest form of art and personal expression. - Darth Bane: Rule of Two
As an Echani, Raskta Lsu is highly skilled in unarmed combat. Lord Cronal, the guy who can predict the future who Palpatine put in charge of the holonet, has been described as wielding the media as effectively as an Echani wields a vibroblade.
But the Alliance’s enemy in this battle was a master manipulator who wielded media as deadly as an Echani warrior a vibroblade: the one-time Imperial Intelligence Director, Lord Cronal, codenamed “Blackhole.” A former Prophet of the Dark Side and rival to Supreme Prophet Kadann, Cronal was elevated from the prophets’ ranks by Palpatine himself and placed at the head of the HoloNet’s operations. For years, the mysterious agent and Emperor’s Hand held sway over the perceptions of military and civilians alike, keeping them in a tight grip of lies and cowing them with his menacing, phantom-like guise projected via aural-visual holographic “distorter” technology. - The Star Wars Spy Game: SPIN Declassified
This is noteworthy regarding the ability of the Echani in unarmed combat, considering they emphasize unarmed combat over bladed combat.
Like all Echani, the Thyrsians excel at reading the smallest cues of body language, making them superb fighters. But in other ways they are sharply different: male-dominated rather than female-dominated, dark of hair and skin instead of light, spiritually focused on the sun instead of the moon, and emphasizing bladed weapons and heavy armor instead of unarmed combat. - Star Wars: The Essential Guide to Warfare Author’s Cut, Part 2 – Ancient Coruscant
Raskta Lsu can anticipate Johun Othone's moves and use them to her advantage.
Her reactions were so fast, her combat instincts so pure, that she was able to sense and anticipate what he was going to do even as it happened, then use his attacks to her own advantage. - Darth Bane: Rule of Two
Raskta Lsu is an Echani and, as such, has a penchant for predicting the combative moves of those around her.
It is the way of the Echani to be able to read their opponents - to know where an opponent is going to strike before it connects, anticipate it, and then strike against them. Echani battles are fought several minutes in advance - in many ways, it is much like the game of dejarik played in the core systems. The most advanced among the Echani are able to predict the course of battles by months, and the most revered are said to be able to predict the path of wars. - Knights of the Old Republic II
As an Echani, Raskta Lsu excels at reading the subtlest of body language cues.
Like all Echani, the Thyrsians excel at reading the smallest cues of body language, making them superb fighters. - Star Wars: The Essential Guide to Warfare Author’s Cut, Part 2 – Ancient Coruscant
Raskta Lsu is stated to have a muscular physique attributed to a member of a species that values physical combat as the highest form of art and expression.
She was almost as tall as Johun, with the muscles and physique one would expect in a species that valued physical combat as the highest form of art and personal expression. - Darth Bane: Rule of Two
While augmented by Battle Meditation, Raskta Lsu possessed the physical strength to neutralize the initial assault of an orbalisk encrusted Darth Bane charging at her.
Raska's blue blades flickered too quickly for the eye to see, neutralizing her enemy's initial, wild attack then landing half a dozen lethal blows to his chest and abdomen. - Darth Bane: Rule of Two
Raskta Lsu's body is muscular.
Even so her muscular body was plucked from the air and hurtled backward, though she twisted and turned so she landed on her feet. - Darth Bane: Rule of Two
Having already felt the physical strength of Bane's strikes, Raskta Lsu is confident in her ability to trap his blade in a blade lock while augmented with Battle Meditation.
Bane brought his lightsaber down at the Echani, who crossed her blades into an X, attempting to block and trap her opponent's weapon at the point of intersection. - Darth Bane: Rule of Two
While augmented by Battle Meditation, Raskta Lsu's blades flickered too quickly for the eye to see, and she neutralized Bane's assault and landed half a dozen blows on him before he could cross the distance between them.
Raska's blue blades flickered too quickly for the eye to see, neutralizing her enemy's initial, wild attack then landing half a dozen lethal blows to his chest and abdomen. But instead of toppling, the big man kept coming, never even breaking stride. He would have plowed straight into Raskta, trampling her under his heavy boots, had she not cartwheeled to the side at the last possible instant. - Darth Bane: Rule of Two
While augmented by Battle Meditation, Raskta Lsu could scramble back to her feet and close the distance between her and Bane in less time than it took Bane to charge at Farfalla and strike twice.
The contact lifted her off her feet and sent her sprawling. Then he was past her, and bearing down on Farfalla.
The Jedi Master dropped into an elegant defensive stance to meet the charge.
"The handle!" Raskta gasped as she scrambled to her feet.
The warning caused Farfalla to notice the hook-handled light-saber of his enemy, and the unusual grip it required. This would alter the nature of his attacks, causing them to come in from odd and unfamiliar angles. In the regimented and hyperprecise world of Jedi-Sith lightsaber duels, it transformed his style into something unique and unexpected.
Valenthyne recognized, processed, and reacted to this information in a fraction of a second, allowing him to adjust his own weapon's course just enough to block a strike that otherwise would have slipped along the edge of his blade and taken his arm off at the elbow. Even so, the strength behind the attack tore Farfalla's golden blade from his grip, sending his lightsaber skittering across the floor. Unarmed and helpless before his enemy, he was saved by Raskta. - Darth Bane: Rule of Two
While augmented by Battle Meditation, Raskta seemed to be everywhere to Farfalla in her duel with Darth Bane, attacking him from several angles.
She seemed to be everywhere at once-in front of Bane, beside him, behind him, circling low, leaping to come in high, deflecting his blade with one of her own then stabbing three quick times in succession at his eyes. - Darth Bane: Rule of Two
Johun Othone, who trained under Lord Hoth, moved his blade too quickly for the eye to see and fought alongside a man three times as fast as himself, marvelling at the speed of Raskta Lsu's blades.
The young Jedi marveled at the speed and savagery of Raskta's blades. - Darth Bane: Rule of Two
Raskta Lsu quickly recovered from a partially shielded telekinetic attack from Darth Bane that was still powerful enough to throw her through the air while augmented by Battle Meditation.
The impact of the wave would have plastered her against the wall and crushed her had Farfalla not thrown up a shield to protect the Echani. Even so her muscular body was plucked from the air and hurtled backward, though she twisted and turned so she landed on her feet. - Darth Bane: Rule of Two
While augmented by Battle Meditation, Raskta Lsu could quickly scramble back onto her feet after Bane knocked her into the air by striking her in the chest with his elbow.
But the Sith's move was only a feint meant to distract her, and at the last instant he pulled his weapon back and swung an elbow around to catch her in the ribs. The contact lifted her off her feet and sent her sprawling. Then he was past her, and bearing down on Farfalla.
The Jedi Master dropped into an elegant defensive stance to meet the charge.
"The handle!" Raskta gasped as she scrambled to her feet. - Darth Bane: Rule of Two
Though Raskta Lsu wasn't very skilled at erecting Force Barriers, she still maintained enough of a Force Barrier while augmented by Battle Meditation to survive a Force Repulse from Darth Bane, whose telekinetic attacks have killed non-force users on contact and disintegrated technobeasts.
Bane bellowed in rage as his weapon slipped from his grasp, the wound leaving his fingers limp and powerless. But before Johun or any of the others had a chance to finish off their unarmed opponent, they were blown backward by an explosion of dark side energy, their enemy's power fueled by the sharp, sudden pain of his wound.
Lying on the ground ten meters away, Johun watched in helpless horror as the Dark Lord's lightsaber leapt from the floor and flew back into his hand. Amazingly, his fingers wrapped themselves around the hilt and reignited the crimson blade, his injuries somehow healing almost instantly.
There was no longer anyone standing between Bane and the Ithorian; like Johun, Farfalla and Raskta had both been thrown clear. The Sith Lord raised his blade to end Worror's life, and Johun thrust out with the Force.
He knew he wasn't strong enough to penetrate Bane's defenses, but the big man wasn't his target. Instead, the powerful push struck Worror, throwing him into the corner as the lightsaber strike that would have cut him in two swished harmlessly through the air.
Johun felt his strength and energy plummet, A wave of exhaustion and fatigue overwhelmed him, the beneficial effects of the battle meditation vanishing as Worror's concentration was broken. But the Jedi Master was still alive, and Farfalla and Raskta were back on their feet. - Darth Bane: Rule of Two
