Eolise vs Jace [Saber Clash]

[Flame of Rebellion]

​

Off to the south of the biodome, a separated tundra is where Jace Rhane and Eloise Dinn are left, snow drifts making it hard to see further than a few feet in front of you.

"Round One! Fight!"

The robotic voice sounds off, leaving only the sound of whipping winds, and the two combatants.

 

[Jace Rhane]

Eloise Dinn​

Jace pressed his hands into the snow, wiping them together to prevent any sweat from faltering his grip on the saber.. he looked across the way, at his opponent. Jace adjusted the emitter on his lightsaber- making it into training mode. Still able to scar, but not enough to kill on a good hit.

"Bit cold."

Jace looked up at the Padawan, taking a deep breath. An inch taller, harsh build. Only knew about her from cursory glances and what he could find out. Reckless, headstrong, bit of a berserker. He took a deep breath, and activated his lightsaber- a green hue. Not that he followed the tradition of having a green blade for his path so to speak-

He just liked the color green more.

"Good luck, Padawan."

He thumbed the blade to life, and took a stance.

"You'll need it."

​

 

[Eloise Dinn]

Eloise was exactly the type of Jedi who would find the idea of a tournament appealing. She signed up as soon as she found out about it and was promptly matched against Jace Rhane. She didn't know the guy, but as soon as she saw him standing across from her in the snowstruck arena, she wished she did. Humina humina--

"Good luck, Padawan. You'll need it."

Oh yeah, they were here to fight. Eloise flicked her lightsaber to training mode and ignited the green blade. "I got nothing," she muttered with a shrug, unable to think of a witty one liner.

She dashed across the snow, closing the distance between them with enhanced speed, her blade swinging toward Jace's neck. Already going for the jugular.

Though not without finesse, for the most part Eloise was a blunt instrument, reliant on her strength and speed to overwhelm her opponent and swiftly end the fight. Did she think this tactic would work on a seasoned Jedi Knight? No. But it would get the blood pumping, and give her a chance to see what he was working with.

Jace Rhane​

 

[Jace Rhane]

Jace didn't have to do much to avoid the incoming attack. Lightsaber blades were practically weightless and formless. He remained still, and only moved the blade up to meet hers. He locked his blade against hers, his hands holding the blade straight upwards- then slid the blade down the length of her blade. His green blade arced against hers, a cacophony of sounds and scorching heat. He remained calm, finesse in every move he made. He used the lightsaber as the weapon it was. It was not a sword, it was a beam of energy.

Pushing a metal blade, such as a vibrosword or otherwise, down the length of another blade was difficult, if not impossible thanks to physics alone. But with lightsabers, it was quite easy to drag it up and down the length of an opponent's weapon. His green blade went down and down-

Right towards her exposed hands and arms, and more importantly, her lightsaber hilt. Their blades were attuned that they'd only cause some burns at best, but he'd hope to drive home the point. He didn't fight exactly like a Jedi with his opening retort- and if Eloise was smart enough, she'd know that it was an aggressive Sith posturing.

Eloise Dinn

 

[Eloise Dinn]

Their lightsabers clashed, then slipped. Jace intentionally slid his blade down the length of hers. Her hilt was fine, but he managed to graze the knuckles of her right hand. Eloise broke contact immediately, taking a big step back before it could do further damage. She looked at him with a serious expression, her thoughts plain. This guy isn't screwing around.

Finally, a real fight!

As the duel continued, she kept her distance and limited how long their lightsabers touched, tapping rather than locking blades. Some of the force behind her blows was consequently lost, but she made up for it in speed, increasing the rhythm.

"What's next?" she asked, grinning. "Trakata?"

Jace Rhane​

 

[Jace Rhane]

Jace stepped back, noting her change of direction in terms of how she was fighting. His body bladed, his lightsaber extended slightly with a press of a button on the hilt. Every bit of distance gained on a blade was an advantage, and with a lightsaber, that advantage came in spades. Lightsabers could not generally be made shorter- but they could be made longer.

He kept the blocks and parries at the tip of his blade, backing up, never crossing his feet. His parries were fast and deliberate, each designed to invoke a reaction, or to test his opponent. Her question went unanswered, though, only using one hand to deflect blows as she decreased the amount of force she was producing.

She was getting fast. She was fast.

But on the offensive. She was not feigning, planning, contemplating or planning thus far. Or perhaps she was. But he had an inkling of an idea- a rather simple one. He stepped back on both feet, letting her blade just slightly come against his, blocking. She pulled it back once more to attack, and he met her blade at a slightly new angle, just by a turn of his wrist. He riposted, and pulled his wrist back then shot it forward-

His blade came searing towards her midsection in a fast stab formed from a riposte.

Eloise Dinn

 

[Eloise Dinn]

For a few seconds, Eloise was on a roll, her attacks fast and accurate. She was far from tiring out, and it was only a matter of time before she broke through his--

The smell of scorched fabric hit her nose as the tip of his blade burned a hole through her tunic. She yelped, more from surprise than pain (though it did singe her belly a bit) and staggered back. The cold air of the tundra was almost balmy against her hot, sweaty skin.

"Damn," she muttered. "I like this shirt."

He'd scored two hits on her already. Not enough to kill her if it had been a duel to the death, but enough to put her on the backfoot. She circled back around as if to attack him again, but it was a feint. She was on the defensive now.

Jace Rhane​

 

[Jace Rhane]

Her posture changed, and she made a remark. He turned his head, watching her turn back around. She was on the defensive now. He expected her to attack, and braced himself for an attack that didn't come.

And for a moment, the both of them stood still.

Jace could only smile. She got one over on him. Clever girl.

So he changed stances once again, his feet no longer blading his body, but together, only about a foot apart, slightly less than shoulder width. He gripped his saber with two hands, and held it tightly. He turned his body only slightly, torquing his hips- and sent his blade crashing against her guard. A more powerful blow than what he had been using before, something to keep her guessing. He had to keep constantly shift styles and methods with her- overpowering her was a fool's errand. She was almost as big as he was, and that advantage only worked when you could press it. He could not press his physicality against hers- that was just a fact at the moment.

But he could weigh in his experience against hers.

 

[Eloise Dinn]

Jace fell for the feint, and seemed to find it amusing. Eloise knew better by now than to underestimate this guy, so she stuck to her plan and stayed on the defensive, without trying to take advantage of his lapse.

He hit pretty damn hard. The shock of the impact as their lightsabers crashed together reverberated up Eloise's arms. She tanked the blows, her strength unwavering... for now.

Despite her youth, Eloise had a few years of combat experience already under her belt. Not just in training exercises or limited missions, either - she had fought her first battle at thirteen, waging war alongside her Sith parents. It was an uncomfortable fact which tended to garner, uh, mixed reactions when she told people about it, but the extra experience had served her well. Even if her foes back then had been primitive aliens armed with spears and arrows.

She probably didn't have as many years on her as Jace, though, a fact which only became more keenly apparent as the duel went on. Every vulnerability she thought she spotted in his form turned out to be virtually unexploitable. Her skill level might not be that far below his, but it was still below it. She knew she was going to have to concede eventually, or else exhaustion would be the only victor here.

But she held out for as long as she could, both out of a sense of warrior's pride and because she was still holding out hope that there would be a chance for her to score a hit against the expert fighter.

Just once, she whispered to the Force, calling on it to reveal a path for her blade. Let me strike true...

Jace Rhane​

 

[Jace Rhane]

She moved like thunder and hit like lightning. Jace always remarked it should be the other way around.

She was experienced in fighting, that much was obvious. Familiarity didn’t breed skill-

But opportunities taken were there. She capitalized on something he didn’t anticipate with a single movement-

Her inexperience. He was used to fighting Sith, other Sith Knights, Jedi Knights. He planned for feints, parries, expertise. His bladework was impeccable. However- he failed to account for her lack of it.

It was difficult to account for unpredictability. Even as a Jedi. His premonition saw it just as it happened. A cross guard that slipped too early, an expectation of an attack that didn’t happen the way he planned.

Her blade scorched along his torso. He grunted in response as it cut into his robe. He backed off immediately, taking a moment to mask the pain with the force.

And he could only grin. She got one over on him. She did have something after all. She was playing defensively. He had to break it.

He pulled his leg back, took a stance, and grabbed his hilt with both hands. He let the blade pull over his shoulder in an overhead slashing motion, but pulled his arms in at the last moment and stabbed, intending to cut into her guard, to put her guard to the test.

 

[Eloise Dinn]

Unpredictability. It was something of a Dinn family trait. Arcturus Dinn, infamous for his bag of tricks, had passed it down to his children, whether through nature or nurture or both. Eloise, destined to be the greatest with a blade among his line, picked it up and ran with it.

She grinned too when her blade scorched along Jace's torso, his guard broken by her unexpected strike. Guided by the Force, she had found her opportunity.

But now the time had come to pay the piper. He struck back, swift and hard. She wasn't ready. His blade smashed through her guard, stabbing the top of her forehead above her left eye. The stench of burnt hair filled the air. A few inches lower, and she might have lost her eye.

Pain exploded across her skull. The next few moments were a blur as she struggled to keep up. She was well on her way to being beaten - and she knew it - but she didn't stop fighting. Friendly duel or not, she was going to go the distance.

Jace Rhane​

 

[Jace Rhane]

Jace did not relent, did not stop to give her time to breathe. The enemy wouldn't, and neither would he. He also, at one point- was the enemy. The Sith Knight showed in him sometimes. Not in the way he talked, held himself, or was in the force- he was a complete 180 of the man he was.

But it still showed sometimes. Like in fights. He pressed into her guard, poking, prodding, finding gaps. But a feint here, and a feint there. His right hand held the blade. His left shoulder came up only slightly, and-

A haymaker went flying towards the side of her head. He'd hoped to press her bladework and make her forget that the entire body was a weapon, not just the tool in their hands. It was a savage, brutal strike- much like their enemy would use, and other forms of martial arts and bladeworks incorporated. Mandalorian melee combat, for example, used many holds, strikes, and tosses to gain an edge over their opponent.

It was cruel, it was brutal, it was fast, and it might've hurt if she didn't move her head in time- but all lessons for combat were earned in blood. It was much of Jace trying to win as it was trying to teach her.

 

[Eloise Dinn]

Being singed on the brow by a lightsaber set to training mode was one thing. Being clobbered by a full grown man was quite another.

This time pain really did explode across her skull. She staggered back, ears ringing, the right side of her face on fire. He punched me, her brain caught up with her nerves. He punched me!

Why was she surprised? Dirty tactics were part and parcel of staying alive. That didn't make it feel any better, nor did it stop her from getting really, really pissed off about it. Getting punched in the face tends to do that to a person.

The world went red. Eloise swung her lightsaber like a barbarian's club, pounding Jace with blows. She wanted to disarm him, and if she succeeded - she'd toss her lightsaber away and give the bastard a taste of his own medicine, fists flying.

Jace Rhane​

 

[Jace Rhane]

She went mad. He could feel it in the force. She was lacking control, lost her discipline. It made her easy to exploit. She used her lightsaber like a club, not a weapon. A lightsaber did not have weight, did not have resistance in the air. It weighed next to nothing, if anything at all.

He wasn't going to be disarmed easily. He put his feet bladed to her again, adopting the Makashi stance. He began to deflect her blows, and did the smart thing- disengaged. He stood back, just out of her reach. He didn't need to deflect her blows at this point- it was better to dodge and avoid them. Parry, parry, duck- step back. Her blade came within millimeters of his chest.

"There is no emotion, there is peace."

He stepped back again, a swing going wide. He didn't need to re-engage presently. Doing so was only to his detriment. He knew that- she was a brute, a barbarian. But exploitable. Young. Inexperienced. But still dangerous.