Clash on Lake Verino (PM before joining)

[Aran Finn]

Lake Verino, Ascension​

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Springtime on the picturesque Lake Verino was something to behold. The winter snows had begun to melt, and so countless swollen rivers began to flow through the tundra plains under a sheet of thick ice. But the temperature was warming now. It was still cold, Ascension by its very definition was a cold, hard place. But it was beautiful. In Alen Na'Varro's opinion, there was not a planet more picturesque in the Outer Rim, not even Naboo. Ascension was unspoiled by tourists but ravaged by a history of war. It was home, and home was beautiful. The warming temperature had begun to melt the gigantic ice sheet that covered each waterway from one end of the planet to the other. The ice was thinning in places, cracking in others, and the Dark Jedi had to watch his step.

He had walked far out onto Lake Verino's ice sheet, looking for some solace. Alen liked his quiet time. He enjoyed reflecting on the past, on his countless actions, on the hundreds of duels he had fought and the hundreds of duels yet to be. He was a man who thoroughly enjoyed bloody constraint; it spoke to a dark part of his soul that eschewed any caring of the world and demanded blood and victory. It was the ancient savage in him, something he embraced to its fullest extent. It was part of what made him who he was ... thirty-five years of actual living spread out over eight hundred.

So he sat and meditated amongst a massive sheet of ice, thinking of his old masters that had shaped him into a living weapon, of his rivals who had lived eight hundred years ago, those he would never have the pleasure of crossing blades with again. Those men and women had made him better, made him stronger. And now that he was here, with no Killian or Invictus to serve, he had to get stronger.

@[member="Xander Carrick"] @[member="Dracen Garett"]

 

[Tormax Tryte]

Some planet called Ascension. It was a beautiful planet in it's own sort of way. Though all planets had their own sort of way of being beautiful, as did a lot of things. At least, that was until he felt a presence in the Force out in the distance. The presence was quite powerful, and he was curious. At least there were no cats to be killed by curiousity.

Walking out over the ice until he saw the figure sat on a massive sheet of ice. He was all alone out there. It definitely wasn't safe for him to be there all alone. Anyone who prided themselves with killing people would have a field day with this person.

Pulling his amphistaff off of his back, he started to jog at the man. His intent, malice, anger, and all of the attributes of the dark side radiated off of his person as he charged at him, starting to gain speed.
@[member="Alen Na'Varro"]

 

[Dracen Garett]

A strange planet. A cold that chilled to the bone. Trudging through the snow, Dracen ignored the freezing cold. A strange power had led him here, and he would not allow a little frost to deter him from his goal. Finally making his way to the top of the mountain, a feat he had been working on for the past thirty minutes, he surveyed the surrounding area. Out below his perch there was a great lake, frozen by the immense cold. If he peered intently, he would be able to see a small humanoid sitting at its base, but it was unnecessary. He felt the dark power emanating from the lake. A thin smile crossed his face, and he stepped down, beginning to slide down the side of the mountain.

@[member="Alen Na'Varro"]

 

[Garza]

The planet was white and grand in all of it's beauty. Even unto a child like myself, I could see the magnificence of the icy planet. Every flake of snow, every icicle that hung, and the glaciers that moved at a slow pace of a few inches every year. During the past few months, my life has sped up exponentially. I was just a sixteen year old in a tube less than three months ago. Now as one of the Best lightsaber wielding Cadets of the Fel Imperium, I had to hand it to all those who had taught me.

Most of all K1-LLR who was back at home fixing some proxy droids for the Imperium to use just like herself. Dressed to the environment. I wore my Medical stormtrooper armor. Even though some may say that it was not necessary to wear it now. I begged to differ. With the slightly broken ice, and freezing temperatures, Nothing else that I had would suffice in keeping me alive if I were stuck out here, or fell under. I looked out onto the sheet of ice. Seeing nothing for what seemed miles. Even with my ship resting on something harder than a sheet of ice, I felt like walking out to the other side of the frozen lake.

I grabbed my things, and walked out of the ramp and began to walk across the ice. Even a few hours later I still walked. My boots had pretty good traction on the ice, for the most part. but if I let myself walk to fast, or take too long of steps. I would slide. Eventually I saw on the other side a large glacier that dwarfed the one that my ship rested upon. Smiling I continued to walk forwards.

Only minutes later did I see a figure began to walk out onto the ice like myself. He was rather dark looking from the distance that I could see him at. a distance. Then what looked to be a dark shape sliding down the glacier. And I felt a slight twinge that I had seen the "blur" before. I unclipped my holster to allow a quick draw if need be. I would reveal myself as a stormtrooper first before a force user. And seeing as how my force powers were fairly low in comparison to others, it wouldn't be hard to just let the slight bump in the force slide on by.

@[member="Dracen Garett"], @[member="Alen Na'Varro"],

@[member="Tormax Tryte"] (I don't remember you being in the PM about this thread?)

 

[Aran Finn]

Three presences in the Force, all at once. This was one of those serendipitous moments where the Force brought those who could weave it together, inexplicably and without logic or reason. This was one of those things that Alen could not understand, but accepted regardless. Three presences ... one approached slowly, cautiously, clearly influenced by Light. Then came a darker aura from the mountains to the north, one similar to his own ... the Dark Jedi Knight opened his eyes and watched the blur in the distance. That presence had him intrigued. And then there was the final one, the presence dark as night. Twisted, the final Force weaver could only be a Sith. Alen growled and rose from his sitting position. He hated Sith with a passion that few could match. The three auras were all considerably weaker than his own, he could feel their raw potential, but all three still had a lot to learn. This would be an education for them.

He sighed, and turned to face the third presence, the charging Sith. The Dark Jedi didn't even bother unhooking either of his lightsabers, and instead just watched the Sith move toward him for a bit. The fool ... he didn't know how many times he had drilled the concept of "positional awareness" into his apprentices. Charging a more powerful darksider across a sheet of ice? You had to expect something like this-

Alen sighed lazily again and watched @[member="Tormax Tryte"], reading his trajectory and the rate at which he was gaining speed. Then he stretched out with the Force, summoning his not inconsiderable power to him like a tempest. He let the Dark Side rage through him, not trying to control it, merely conducting its flow through the channels that he wanted it to go. Yes, this felt good. The Dark Jedi exulted in the glory of the Dark Side, and the power it brought him. It was like a drug ... this use of power would have a small aging effect on his body, and there was a comedown to it. Now he attacked. The powerful darksider sent a deep Resonation into the ice in front of the Sith, shattering the ice underfoot where he happened to be, and for a large spread of square metres around him. This started a chain reaction of ice breakage which would stop eventually, but would definitely make things more interesting. As he cast his Resonation, his other hand came forward and summoned a Force Shield, this time placed several metres in front of his person. It manifested itself as a large wall of Force energy that would repel just about anything, dealing serious damage to anyone who attempted to pass through it.

Force energy was an extremely easy thing to manipulate, if one knew how, and if you became experimental in its use, it could prove to be a decisive blow.

@[member="Xander Carrick"] @[member="Dracen Garett"]

 

[Tormax Tryte]

He felt the power of the dark side, as he felt almost weightless for less than half a second before he sprung into action. Since he was already using the Force in a Force Speed, he was forced to leap to the far side of the collapsing ice lake. It seemed to be the shortest jump to avoid falling into an icy death. He landed in a roll, his force speed already draining away from him when he used the force leap to avoid the resonation. He looked at the man, he wasn't even directly charging at him anymore. He would have to tread carefully.

The man was obviously more experienced than him. For the time being, and his presence within the Force was powerful. He would have to let the man initiate his first attack, and Tormax would have to retort.

With a grim look he waved his hand over his body casting a force shield and he twirled the amphistaff in his hand, though to his side as he waited. His mind wandered however when it started to pick up the presence of two other Force users...

@[member="Alen Na'Varro"]

 

[Dracen Garett]

Reaching the base of the mountain, Dracen could feel two other force signatures, yet nothing nearly as powerful as the one he had first felt. One of them had apparently taken to fighting the stronger one, while the other just say and watched. Strange, this particular one felt familiar. Looking in its direction, he gazed at the figure with interest. Allying his way across the ice to meet it, he readied himself to fight if need be. However, he figured that a fight would be inevitable. Getting closer, he felt the lighter presence grow even more potent, but still noticed that it paled in comparison to his own. Then it clicked. The boy from Coruscant, the young prodigy. Oh, this would be interesting. Brain versus brawn, round two. He took out his lightsaber and flicked it on, stopping ten meters away from the boy.

@[member="Xander Carrick"]

 

[Garza]

At the distance that I was, I could see a red saber ignite as one man went after the man who seemed to be walking towards me. This was not good. It looked as though a Sith assassin had taken his target of the other man. Pulling my saber from my belt, completely forgetting about the blaster pistol on my thigh. My saber stayed inactive wanting to hold my appearance of a simple initiate or even a non-force user a live. Thats when the man who was sliding down the glacier came at me.

My face broke into a smile as he was only 10 meters from me. I allowed my lightsaber to activate in its yellow brilliance. "Round two?"
@[member="Dracen Garett"]

 

[Dracen Garett]

Dracen grinned as the boy's voice mimicked his thoughts. In fact, he'd come to respect the kid. Though given the chance, he would kill him in retaliation for how he'd been humiliated, he was indeed a worthy opponent. Nodding his head in agreement, he initiated the duel by placing his saber over his chest, waiting for his opponent to do the same. Perhaps he would show some manners this time.

@[member="Xander Carrick"]

 

[Garza]

I could only smile as the green blade of my foe ignited and was lifted to his face. I shrugged my shoulders and did the same. And I had to give him some respect. He was a good fighter and one not to be simply messed with. I could see the man and in his entirety of dark aura around him. With the green blade that looked to be made of pure poison, I brought my blade down to my side with the tip just touching the ice. I began to walk forwards. I could not force sprint 10 meters. I wasn't that good at the ability, and I wanted to find the man's new weaknesses.

@[member="Dracen Garett"]

 

[Dracen Garett]

Ending the salute, Dracen lowered his own saber and began walking toward the boy. Though he could've easily put the force into his already powerful legs to sprint his way over, but he wanted to see just what the little prodigy had in store for this battle. He imagined he was looking at any and every possible weak point he could find, calculating where he would hit first. Well Dracen was already busy building up a wall of force around him, hoping to disrupt Xander's vision of him. If he was doing it right, the boy's view of the taller man would be fazed and disoriented until the last ten steps or so. Whether or not it was working, he smiled all the same.

@[member="Xander Carrick"]

 

[Aran Finn]

@[member="Tormax Tryte"]

Growling now, the use of the Dark Side transformed Alen Na'Varro from paternalistic older man into violence personified. He strode forward with impunity, still not even bothering to draw his twin lightsabers from his belt, or even remove his cloak. He noted the Sith's Force Shield, and realised that if he wished to expend the energy, he could probably break it apart with powerful telekinetic attacks, just as he had seen his former master Invictus do to the Sith known as Darth Proeliator in the hulk of a Super Star Destroyer, more than eight hundred years ago. However, that was not Alen's style. He was no telekinetic juggernaut like Invictus had been, he was more of a martial technician. He did not often overwhelm his opponents with TK, though he knew how to use it effectively.

The Force Shield was solid, protecting the novice Sith from harm fairly effectively. However, Alen knew how to make use of the environment to his advantage. He strode forward aggressively and then used the Force to fuel his leap high into the air, coming to a height of around eight metres. Then he began to descend ... funneling Force energy into a ball centred around his right hand, he unleashed it furiously in a Push at the ice near @[member="Tormax Tryte"]. That part of the ice would be pushed into the water, making the part of ice that the Sith stood on jerk violently into the air and then forward, unsettling his balance and probably flinging him off the part of ice where he was standing. The Sith would not be able to anchor himself during this duel.

Alen landed, cat-like and ready, on a violently rocking piece of ice, but only for a second. Then he leaped again, following the Sith's trajectory, fists balled and the Force welling up inside him like a raging torrent. He was ready to engage.

 

[Garza]

I took my time getting close to him. As we did so, we circled around each other like cats poised to strike. My saber was now ready for the attacks that would be sent my way. holding it in the normal grip, It felt good to know of a different form now. I took into consideration of the man. His height and stature, when it started to blur and distort. I thought I was loosing my vision when I focused in on my saber to see that it was fine. Seeing that he was using illusions I smiled. "Oh play fair you old fart!" I yelled at him.

As I then launched myself at him with the force, we had closed the gap to a mere 4 meters which was perfect for me. As I moved into a blur I could hear a force power be used as the ice broke. The crack was just a background sound. when I released what I could do against my foe this time. My saber then came up for an attack of an upper cut, though slanted to go from his left foot to right shoulder, it was very quickly changed into a swipe of the saber from his right to left followed by a force push with my left hand.

I wanted to keep the man at a slight distance, and so I would need to attack, and then somehow push him back, or take a tactical retreat to keep the man on his toes to when I would attack.

@[member="Dracen Garett"]

 

[Tormax Tryte]

You're going to die. Your family will torment your soul in death. Said the voice in his head. Tormax was grinning like a mad man until the dark sider had flung him off of his previously stationary block of ice. He had only force pushed the ice near him! He had missed, and yet he still got me!

All those thoughts went through his mind as he sailed through the air. Needless to say the grin on his face had vanished just as he had been sent into the air, and he spotted the dark sider land on the ice, before jumping straight at him before he had even grounded for a full second!

There was little time, Tormax decided. He skidded across the ice and he planted the amphistaff into the ice lake, to try and stop his momentum as he slid across the ice. I will not be pushed around. He thought, as he summoned the force to his hand, and threw his hand outwards to the place where he figured the dark sider would land. It was only a few meters away, but Tormax pushed there, barely cracking it as his opponent had. But it was definitely enough to unbalance it enough if he landed on it, Tormax hoped.

He took a few steps further back to take stock of the situation so he would have a few more steps to prepare himself when the man finally arrived.

@[member="Alen Na'Varro"]

 

[Dracen Garett]

Chuckling as the boy played the 'old man' card again, he dropped the wall, just long enough to see his opponent leaping at him, the distant sound of crackling coming from behind him. Had the little whelp learned a new ability? Interesting. Raising his blade up, he blocked each slash and jab with blinding accuracy, waited for the barrage to end, but was quickly thrown back by a sudden force push. Falling back a few feet, he picked himself back up, and saw a pattern. The same that had been used in their last battle. Cold defiance replaced his smiling demeanor, and he walked back over to Xander and slapped his weapon across in an arc, putting all of his strength into one blow designed to maim and push back. Looking over at the boy as he did so, he wondered what he would use to overpower sheer strength with wisdom and strategy for this battle, for he knew it would come eventually.

@[member="Xander Carrick"]

 

[Garza]

My stance quickly changed. My right hand came up to my eye level and my left hand out, feet shoulder with apart as the man walked towards me. The realization came over his face of my tactic, and that is just what I wanted. Even with the strong attack that he sent my way, My saber came directly to block it. My helmet visor came up to look at the man in the eyes as we now stood toe to toe.

With the Soresu form I could withstand powerful attacks with miminal effort. Even as just a beginner in the art, I could rival men twice my size. "Got ya." I said before my saber suddenly shut off. It could cause the man to become unbalanced. and with that I sidestepped as I reactivated my saber to come down with an over head strike followed by a force push.

@[member="Dracen Garett"]

 

[Dracen Garett]

When the boy brought his weapon up for a saber lock, Dracen pushed back with immense strength. That's when he realized his mistake. "No." The yellow blade cut off, and he stumbled off balance, falling several feet, followed by sheer pain to his left shoulder and an extra push. Coughing, he stumbled his way back up and walked over to the boy. "Once again, you prove your worth. You are indeed a fine opponent." Callin his lightsaber to his hand, he kept it to his side, away from the child.

@[member="Xander Carrick"]

 

[Garza]

I smiled as the man had taken a nice cut with the tip of my yellow saber blade and was pushed back. As he walked over to me and spoke in a slight cough, I nodded my head. "To you as well. It would be a sin to end you life." I kept my saber ready should he attack me in any way. Though he had taken an attack to the arm, I bet that it hurt like hell. I had been hit with a training saber so many times that I could have more scars and bruises than a war veteran. I kept my distance from him. And then smiled.

"But I can't have you attacking me again." I had my body already close to the ice shelf that we were standing on. My left hand then shot out to the ice and Paying attention with the force, I wished that the man vanished from my sight. I heard a crack then a second louder one and where my hand was, broke out cracks from the ice. "Till we meet again" I then pushed with the force. Letting the ice in front of me shatter.

@[member="Dracen Garett"]

 

[Aran Finn]

Okay, so the stripling was good. Annoyed, Alen realised that the Sith had learned his tactic fast and was using it against him. A concussive blast of Force energy, also known as a Push, cracked the ice where the Dark Jedi was about to land. Any pressure on that ice would send him straight through it and into the chilly waters below. Hypothermia would likely follow, for Alen was no healer. And he hadn't even brought a change of clothes. This would require quick thinking, as well as an able knowledge of physics and gravitics. Alen was glad that his father had made him pay attention to his science lessons as a child.

His fists balled and summoning Force energy, Alen threw a concussive blast of Push at the ground behind him as he flew through the air, looking to alter his course. It wasn't perfect, but it would do. Flying through the air and unable to slow down, Alen instead calling one of his crimson lightsabers to his hand and ignited it. He wouldn't quite reach @[member="Tormax Tryte"], but he did have enough momentum to attack the ice itself once again. The Dark Jedi's form of choice was Form V, also known as Djem So. It was a powerful form, based on keeping the momentum of the fight in his favour. One of its signature moves was the Falling Avalanche, where one rose his blade above his head with both hands and clove downwards, imbuing the attack with Force energy. The move was meant to break through an opponents guard instantaneously and brutally, but with no guard that he could reach, he attacked the ice itself once again.

The resulting shockwave was not as powerful as one that could have been summoned by his old master, Killian Quane, but it was devastating nonetheless. Ice flew everywhere once again, and this solid ice sheet that had been untouched so far by their fight again broke and violently ruptured. Large chunks of ice rose and fell like small icebergs disturbed by an icebreaker. Alen hopped from one mini-iceberg to another as they rose and fell, trying to track where his opponent had gone.

 

[Tormax Tryte]

And there they went. The dark sider clearly knew his own moves, but it had to be tried. He knew he wouldn't have died from such a simple trick. He would have expected him to survive..But now it was his turn to change the playing ground..Right after it was changed again.

Tormax rode through the ever changing pieces of ice. He hopped from the miniature iceberg to the next one, to the next one, until he saw his opponent disappear as his iceberg went up. He's not getting away. Leaping up into the air with the aide of the Force, he held his three meter long amphistaff in his hand and he came down on a rising iceberg that rose above the dark sider's own.

He had the high ground and he would win from this point on. In the distance he saw some ice fall off of the side of a mountain, and attributed that to being a natural occurance. Once his iceberg started to lower, he released a force spark from his hand, straight to the man's chest. He had to take him off guard. He didn't think the force spark would be able to actually harm the man especially, but it would be able to unbalance him he hoped.

@[member="Alen Na'Varro"]