Of course, the psychic attack should have taken effect immediately and rendered [member="Romeo Sin"] unable to perform the parry and the... well, whatever the other attack was that he performed. Even so, it appeared this Force User had been resilient against the neural overload, right up until he fell facefirst toward Duvain. The Hybrid hissed softly and side-stepped to the right, moving with the speed and grace of a premiere human athlete.
As Sin fell, Duvain swung the glowing, violet blade twice with the intention of inflicting two light cuts upon the humanoid's hamstrings to render his prey immobile. The body collapsed into the snow with a crunch of ice. The Hybrid planted his heel on the humanoid's back and swung his lightsaber a third time in an attempt to cut his prey's lightsaber in half and thus leave him weaponless should he wake up sooner than expected.
However, while falling Sin's hand had brushed the edge of his hood and the fabric was now aflame, burning slowly in the cold. The Hybrid had little time to attend to his burning coat, for an uncouth voice cut suddenly through the air.
Duvain looked up, face expressionless save for those burning red eyes. The presence of [member="Kaiden 'Papa' Rohn"] would have proved a surprise if Duvain had not identified him previously. You see, he'd seen five people on the tundra. Five. Two humans, a demon, their hunter, and... this man. Number five.
The Hybrid remained motionless, boot upon the back of his fallen foe, even as the soldier discharged his slugthrower repeatedly. Seeing how the type of shell was never specified, it is reasonable to assume that Kaiden was firing a typical 12 gauge shell loaded with number nine buck shot, which meant eight small balls came screaming toward Duvain in the first shot.
What the Republic trooper did not know was that Duvain wore the
Sergeti amulet which he'd taken from Anaudius' corpse after draining him of both knowledge and brains. The amulet protected the wearer from being touched by anything.
Anything. Romeo had not set off the amulet because he had not been trying to touch Duvain, merely his coat - the hood of which was still on fire. 12 gauge ammunition was a different story.
All eight balls met the influence of the amulet and promptly disintegrated.
Vibrant power exploded outward from the glowing purple pendant around Duvain's neck, producing a tendril of red that arced toward the trooper faster than the eye could see. One might as well try to dodge a lightning strike from the heavens as avoid the ruthless counter. If hit, the trooper would either be fried to cinders or put out of commission due to severe burns.
Unfortunately for Duvain, the soldier had already squeezed the trigger again... and the amulet only worked once.
Number nine buckshot punched through cloth, skin and muscle in a spray of blood, painting the snow. Duvain grunted, feeling the hot, burning pain of a now ventilated body, but under the influence of the Soulsaber's Battlemind he did not yield to such petty agony of the flesh. The Hybrid set his jaw, embers for eyes, and followed the counter of the amulet with an attack of his own.
He gestured sharply with his left hand, attempting to telekinetically rip the shotgun from the soldier's fingers. Unless possessed of a preternatural might, the Force beat human grip strength. The Hybrid did not leave it at that, instead following through with the same blast of psychic energy he had used to put the first of his prey down. The effects of the mental attack would be instantaneous and would send Kaiden into a coma-like state for several minutes, where he would be unable to move due to an overload of his neural network.
Duvain's attention returned to his coat, which was on fire. Grimacing at the heat that licked at his neck, he deactivated the Soulsaber and shrugged off the apparel. Hoth's merciless cold bit at him, seeping icy fingers into his body and encouraging him to sit, rest a while, and sleep. But he would not sleep. He yielded to none, not even nature's wrath.
[member="Kitt Solo"] [member="Jorus Merrill"]
