Galen Vs. Keira Ticon

[Sinistra]

The hangar bay of an ImpStar Deuce (Imperial-II class Star Destroyer) is vast, and grey, devoid of the activity that would normally be found on a warship.

The hangar is roughly 100 meters deep, 50 meters across and 50 meters high with solid metal decking. There are 4 cargo crates sitting on a tug platform off to the left side of the room if the combatants are facing the aperture to space.

There are 2 TIE/LN parked in the back of the hangar, one on each side, and 2 more hanging from the ceiling in their storage mounts.

There is a hanging gangway over the hangar floor that allows pilots access to the stored TIE/LN from the glass ATC station located on the very back wall of the hangar.

The room is well lit, there is no wind and no personnel. The force field is active and fighters are in no danger of being sucked out into space.

The fighters will enter from opposite sides. The fight will go on until either one or both fighters is dead or incapacitated, a fighter surrenders either verbally or by leaving the bay, or time runs out.

May the Force be with you.

[member="Galen"]
[member="Keira Ticon"]

 

[Galen]

The durasteel floor was cool beneath his bare feet, and the air caused goosebumps to rise on his skin as he entered the hangar. "Space is cold" was the old adage he'd heard a hundred times, uttered from the mouths of mercenaries, aristocrats, and farm boys, all of whom had expected ships to make better use of their heating systems. Unfortunately, there was an equilibrium to space. Any energy used to heat the ship must by necessity be taken from somewhere else, and most captains deemed a few degrees of comfort a lower priority than emergency shielding or sublight engines. For Galen, it only meant the heat of his opponent would be easier to feel, the metal would conduct the resonance of their motions exceptionally well, and the large open space would make any sound stand out against the backdrop of silence. Even the stillness of the air would simply guarantee that its motion was caused by either himself or his opponent.

In short, this was very nearly the perfect combat environment for a man such as himself.

He wore nothing more than he had to his previous bout, simple black leggings and a blindfold wrapped securely around his eyes, or where the eyes would be for a human, at least. He carried his katana in his left hand, and the wakizashi was sheathed at his left hip. Beyond that pair, he carried no weapons save for the force, and already he was beginning to flex that muscle, reaching out with his senses beyond their natural range to commit the entirety of the space to memory. He halted when he reached the center of the hangar, 25 meters from the entrance his enemy would be using.

[member="Keira Ticon"]

 

[Keira Priest]

Gear in signature.

Her pistol was holstered on her left hip, combat knife on her right, CW-77 on her left forearm and lightsaber at her waist. The vibroblade built into the gauntlet of her left hand was fully functional, as was the wrist rocket on her right forearm that was fixed with a single homing missile, though she doubted her need for such a weapon. On top of that she was fully armored, phrik plating scuffed in some places but as durable as it had ever been. Some might have called this overkill, but she believed in being prepared.

Booted footsteps echoed in the vast space, helmeted gaze taking in the entirety of her surroundings before settling on her opponent. "An easy fight, figuratively." She spoke to her AI companion, Thalia. "And 'figuratively' is the key word, there. You know better than most not to underestimate an opponent." "At least this one's not a fully armored Mandalorian. I'm liking the outlook of this one better already." And the conversation ended there. To the outside world that had been nothing more than a lapse of silence.

Her progress halted once they were within something of a conversational distance, and she reached out with the Force as well, extending her senses about herself in preparation for what was to come. Silently she worked at a coil of power in her core, allowing it to sit there, a reminder of her capabilities and the strength she held. It was something that would only be released when and where it was necessary, and until then would remain harmless, a simple bead of power. Her head inclined just slightly, and she readied herself for an attack.

[member="Galen"]

 

[Galen]

Truth be told, the entire hangar was conversational distance for Galen, though he was pleased with the scant ten meters that still separated him from his opponent. She could have easily halted just inside the entrance, but instead chose to close the distance, in spite of the fact that all her opponent's visible weaponry was only suited for melee combat. Perhaps she wanted to be sporting. Her loss.

"Yes... It would be a shame to face a fully armored opponent, wouldn't it? Oh... and a force user to boot! A great shame indeed."

He'd been directing his "gaze" toward the floor, though his focus had been on the woman since she entered, and now he elevated his head until it was directed at her, smiling at the irony of her complaint. The threat she posed was significant, even if he only took into account the considerable number of energy concentrations on her person and ignored the gathering force power and the faint aura of darkness surrounding the knife at her right hip. The concentrations would be power cells for her equipment. One in the blaster at her hip, another in the vibroblade at her left wrist and a third within the arm itself, a fourth in the rocket on the opposing arm, a fifth in her right leg, a sixth in the armor, and finally the seventh and last, housed within the casing of her lightsaber.

Most of these people never even realized just how much primed explosive potential they carried around attached to their bodies, and he often found humor in the fact that they considered themselves safer for it. Most of those cells would only require a small rupture to exhibit catastrophic consequences for their wearer, yet the tricky part was always finding the focus to cause that rupture in the midst of heated combat. Often-times a simple crush would be inadequate, and the precision that would otherwise be required too difficult for most combat situations. Still, there were ways.

He continued unabashedly flexing his own connection to the force as she waited, preparing his mind as well as his body for the fight to come, and soon began to move closer. He walked at an unhurried pace in a tightening circle around her, left side facing the threat and prepared to react. He was not the type to charge in blindly, if you'll pardon the pun, and so he would see how close she would allow him to come before taking actions of her own.


[member="Keira Ticon"]

 

[Keira Priest]

Music

"He reminds me of you." Keira stifled a sigh. "Stow it." "Obnoxiously overconfident and sarcastic. You guys should be friends!" There was, at least, the saving grace that in-helmet comms kept the entirety of the spat secluded to the confines of her own ears, though the AI was proving more of a companion for banter and borderline annoyance than anything remotely strategic, at this point. But all of this helped her look at things with more of a level head, initially, which was what she needed. Her days of uncalculated attacks were over. Mostly.

Just as he pushed his presence outwards she returned the favor, not so much competing as acknowledging his strength and allowing hers to be felt out in return. The beginning stages of every fight began like this, a certain amount of posturing taking place before any real combat began. While she appreciated the necessity of such a thing, she by far preferred testing the mettle of her opponent through more physically violent means. Anyone could put on a show, but only a few could truly back that up.

His circling towards her was seemingly disregarded for the next few moments, and she was content to observe exactly how he moved and carried himself. Each was equally sure of their own capability, making them both just as dangerous. Once he'd closed the distance to a sparse meter she released a burst of the Force that echoed like a gunshot in the expansive space, one meant to throw him back should it go on unimpeded. "Actions speak louder than words, so don't talk. Demonstrate."

[member="Galen"]

 

[Galen]

Allowing him to close that much distance had been a mistake, and it was one he intended to exploit. A meter was well within the range of the sword he held, and even before he felt her power swell he'd been shifting his footing, planting his right foot and rotating as he brought the sword up and to his left. Gripping the hilt with both hands, he delivered a vicious horizontal slash to her less armored abdomen, drawing the blade toward himself even as it would move through her body from right to left. The motion was fluid and fast, and the draw would turn it from a simple brute force hack into a blow that had the capability to slice solid durasteel.

He had no time to determine if the blow landed, however, as in the next instant a veritable wall of force struck nearly his whole frame, sending him twisting and spiraling through the air. His sense of equilibrium served him well as he came back down, and he was able to land lightly on the balls of his feet and the fingertips of his right hand, sword held out away from his body to prevent his own impalement. A smile curved his lips as he landed, though his only reply was a singularly potent burst of speed as he bolted back toward her, covering the six meter distance in a blink to deliver a second slash to her hopefully compromised midsection. He aimed his dash slightly to her left, and would use his momentum to draw the blade through her from front to back as he came even with her on his way past.

[member="Keira Ticon"]

 

[Keira Priest]

This one was fast, and Keira was just as much impressed as she was annoyed. Her saber sparked to life at the very last second, and although she managed to block that first strike - just barely - she was still left unbalanced. Had another cut followed up there was no doubt she would have been completely compromised, but as it was her initial attack connected in the next breath, and she was granted a few moments of recompense to collect her wits into a firmer sort of battle-readiness. Noted, this was for real.

Her combat knife was in her left hand as he darted towards her for another pass, held in a reverse grip as it scraped along his own weapon, sparks flying between them. The orange blade of her saber still hummed in her off-hand, and she maintained its standard grip. "You're going to want to match his speed." "In defense for now. Let him wear himself down for the first few hits, then we'll have some fun." Truly she despised being on the defensive, but sometimes it was for the best. So once again, she waited.

[member="Galen"]

 

[Galen]

Galen came to a halt a mere meter behind her, calloused feet burning from the friction as he turned back to face her in a basic stance, left foot forward and right behind. In the same motion he rotated his blade around over his head and delivered a third horizontal slash to the un-plated small of her back that would cut through from her right to her left. The rotational attack was a simple one, yet the motions involved made it powerful, if executed with the proper footing. In this instance, there was no gravel or sand to compromise his grip on the floor, and it just so happened the immediately relevant surfaces had recently been warmed by a fair amount of friction. Directly blocking the blow one-handed would be nigh-impossible without the aid of the force or her cybernetic arm, and even then it would carry significant force into her body.

This bisecting her from side to side was not his primary goal, however. The swordplay was second nature to him and required little thought, leaving his mind largely free to begin searching her body for the weakest link in the chain of energy that ran throughout her armor, body, and equipment in preparation for his primary assault.

[member="Keira Ticon"]

 

[Keira Priest]

Instead of conceding to blocking and likely being largely unbalanced, Keira moved. Fast. A potent burst of the Force carried her forward at high enough speeds to avoid that single, potentially deadly cut in one fluid motion. Upon coming to a stop a few meters away she pivoted again to face him, shifting her focus to the two TIE fighters, more specifically one of their hexagonal wings and the joint that connected it to the rest of the ship, extending her ethereal grip and tightening it on that point, wrenching her hand to one side in order to more or less sever the wing.

Instantly she raised both hands to counter the imbalance that immediately surfaced due to the structure of the projectile, not bothering to counteract the weight overly much as she pulled her hands downwards to send the wing crashing across the floor towards him, jumping and twisting out of range herself, a bone deep sensation reminiscent of pulling a muscle accompanying her, and she knew that she had extended herself to her typical limits in those few seconds. But it felt good.

[member="Galen"]

 

[Galen]

The burst of speed left him swinging at open air, and he released the sword from his right hand allowing the momentum of the swing to carry it fully to his left side. His examination of her power systems had yielded little fruit, each of the small units was sturdy and well-constructed with no obviously exploitable weaknesses. There was one, however, that would not be discerned by its energy signature, yet without it the entire system would fail.

Thump-Thump

He could hear it, surging within her breast as she exerted herself, calm and steady despite the battle she found herself in.

Thump-Thump

He felt the power as she reached out past him, reached for the fighter she thought to be her salvation. In truth, it was that which would end her.

Thump-Thump

It was at the apex of her strain that he struck. When all her considerable power was focused on tearing the wing free from its craft, he reached out with his own mind and focused his attack around her heart, working to seize it in an iron grip and crush it inward on itself. Though even should he fail to crush it, simply halting its methodical beat would be enough to fulfill his objectives.

Thump-....

 

[Alkor Centaris]

Okay, fairly quick judgment:
[member="Galen"] wins. He wrote a substantially better fight from a technical standpoint. That said, I'm not sure if the character is just that cocky or that's ooc bleeding in, but you should tread carefully with that tone in the future.

[member="Keira Ticon"], you're clearly still feeling out your fighting style and have plenty of room to grow as a duelist. Keep coming back for more and get better, then give these former JvSers a run for their money, since it looks like they're sweeping their way to the finals. (Seriously? Everyone in the semis is a former JvS duelist?)

Galen, one glaring problem is that your post cut- the last one- is in very poor form. I hung on this aspect for a while when factoring the judgment. Sure, your timing is very precisely outlined, but you ignored a huge part of her attack.

The TIE fighter wing never got thrown, but she very clearly threw it in her post. Post cutting etiquette dictates that you recycle as much as the original post as possible when replying. That said, even if it were to kill Keira, your Wound would not have stopped the Wing still would have hurtled in your direction and you should have responded to it. Literally the only reason this is not being held against you is that Keira decided not to reply and I was left to judge as written.

If she had taken the death and the attack was allowed to continue as it was originally intended, you would have had to take a hit from the TIE wing and risk your own wounds. That was the realistic eventuality. That said, she didn't protest the move and we'll never know what the outcome would have been from her perspective.

The moral of this story: Don't be that guy. You know better.

Another problematic bit of verse is: "Gripping the hilt with both hands, he delivered a vicious horizontal slash to her less armored abdomen, drawing the blade toward himself even as it would move through her body from right to left. The motion was fluid and fast, and the draw would turn it from a simple brute force hack into a blow that had the capability to slice solid durasteel." The bolded version could have been construed as a called hit, even with the added caveat in the second paragraph, first sentence.

Utilize words that suggest possibility at all times. Any sentence that suggests he "delivered" a blow to her "XXXXX" is dicey.

-Alky