As his boot remained on the ashen ground, his smirk grew wider, hidden beneath his mask that betrayed nothing but the cold stare of duraplast and transparisteel as he gazed at the furious expression on his target's face. Still, he stood there when she began to move, confident that she was preparing to attack him in a simple way, testing his defences. He'd allow her one attack that he'd dodge, only to immediately riposte, as was common for Djem So, and with enough luck that old procedure would make this encounter mercifully short, allowing him to cash in quickly and return to his life in solitude. He felt the power of the Force being channelled through his target, becoming more and more intense every fraction of a second before her move.
As she went into her battle stance, he made a move backwards and dropped into his own battle ready posture, legs bent slightly, hand going towards his Lightsaber, muscles tensing as he awaited her move. A simple kick is what he expected when she raised her leg, but the moment her leg began its way back down, he realised it wasn't going for him, rather it was going for the ground. His eyes barely managed to follow the motion, his body reacting on instinct, sliding his front leg quickly behind the other in an even lower fighting stance, ready to dodge to either side, seemingly ready for whatever attack she was preparing. The moment her foot touched stone, however, there was no fire or stone hurled at him, rather an explosion of heated air and a shockwave meant to attack his legs as the ground beneath his feet shattered. His proximity was both detrimental and helpful, however. The blast wave itself was unavoidable, though he could still lessen the shockwave's impact by going up into the air. As the reflexive Force Barrier formed before him to counteract the wind, he launched himself upwards, away from the ground, away from the shockwave, above his target. Through this manoeuvre, even the blast of air would work for him, partially. The additional Force acting upwards helped in propelling himself higher up, though as his focus shifted from the Barrier, to actively aiding in gaining height, the blast of wind broke through his Force Barrier and environmental shield, striking him across his entire body. Nerves all over his body cried in pain as the sheer blunt force of the attack worked its way through him. Had it not been for the lessening effects of the barrier, he was certain his bones would be nought but shards.
As he ascended, rocky shrapnel began cutting through the air below him as well, brought about by the shockwave, grazing his legs in several places as he reached the highest point of his jump, several metres above the ground. In that way, his height worked for him again, had he remained below he would have been shredded by the rock, up here, only his legs were left with bleeding wounds. Aching, yet still alive, his plan formed anew. He meant to attack her from above now, while the dust still settled, hoping to get a quick hit in while his approach was covered. His hand grasped his Lightsaber, but his finger did not move to activate it, not until the very last moment would the blade ignite. The moment of surprise would be on his side, a swift horizontal swipe the arc of which should be enough to inflict a devastating wound to his opponent. He felt gravity kick in and his body began its descent towards his target, through ash and dust. His arms were extended on either side, both bent close to a ninety-degree angle, his right hand ready to ignite the Saber and swing the blade. His robes fluttered in the wind above him, though his hood held firm, hiding the parts of his head the mask didn't.
The inescapable pull of the planet brought him back to the surface, now a few metres lower than before, immediately to the left of his opponent. As his left toes met the ground, the red blade of his Lightsaber cracked into existence, red lightning arcing across the unstable blade. It did not stay still long. As quickly as the blade extended he arced his blade in the direction of his opponent, at about the level of her legs, in a horizontal half-circle parallel to the ground. At the same time, his other foot impacted the broken ground softly and he used the energy from his landing to shift his weight forwards, in the same motion as his Lightsaber arced through the air. Then, legs aching in protest, he lunged forwards, closer to the ground, he wasn't trying to go for height, merely distance this time. Pain and anger filled his system, one fueling the other. Lesser men would have given up after the damage this attack had inflicted, but Atlas was not one of them. He had beaten his Master, he would prevail this day too. Still, he hoped his attack would be enough to take his opponent by surprise, allowing him to escape her reach for a brief amount of time.
[member="Cinder Rose"], [member="Aldrenek"]
