Only after they had left her small quarters did he find himself facing white and purple as her blades came alive with the humming harmonics he was so use to hearing from a lightsaber.  She took up the reverse-Shien stance, and wasted no time in using the Force to advance the speed of her first rain of blows.  He could feel the power from each of these rapid strikes even as he parried them from his usage of Soresu.  Soresu was the principle form used for defense.  It was based on the wielder being centered, and wasting no movements in cutting off the angles of each strike.  In this way, Soresu also was quite useful to conserve energy...letting the opponent expend their strength early while the defender remains untouched and strong.  Yet, the power of her strikes was something even Soresu had trouble completely negating.  Powered by the Force; Alethea's attacks were stronger than they might otherwise have been.  Yet, what was powered by the Force; could also be negated by the Force.  Thus, Thal-ion powered his own parries of Soresu as emerald continued to intercept white and purple...staying centered...barely giving any ground...and keeping his sparring partner moving in circles.<br/><br/>The power of Shien/Djem So was actual strength, but Thal-ion did not have the same ability in these attributes as others did.  He had focused his combat skills on agility and speed, and these had served him in good stead.  He was still learning to blend Makashi into the Soresu form, but both relied on the same thing...speed and agility.  Thus, he found the first major difference between them...strength and agility.  Her form required this of her, and his required the opposite...though her lethal swift strikes clearly had some awesome agility to them.  She was good...he would have expected nothing less.  As their blades continued to clash and hum in the larger hall of the ship; still Thal-ion kept up Soresu...mindful always of her movements.  There was something in them which warned him she was full of tricks, and for him not to pull out of his own quite so fast.  Not all was as it appeared to be.  Though he had never practiced with or against Alethea; the Force warned him she was dangerous.<br/><br/>For just a quick moment, he suddenly switched completely from Soresu to Makashi...completely side-stepping to the left in a half-pivot, and lunging forward with the Force as his ally to guide his strike with speed and accuracy.