Hunter and Scavenger

[Abelain Narv'uk]

[member="Kara Blackmoor"]

The city of Livien Magnus was filled with people of various species and intent. Each one shuffled by on the various walkways that criss-crossed the city. Others zoomed by on airspeeders, clouding the air with the thickness of their presence and casting a gloomy reminder of flies buzzing about a freshly killed carcass. The place had gone through many troubles throughout it's long and rough history, especially the part where an ancient ship had crashed into it and essentially destroyed the entire city and it's inhabitants. That had been the end of the proud city, yet now it stood once more, gleaming in it's newly discovered richness as people flooded into it once more.

Especially popular among the inhabitants were those that were fleeing conflicts around the galaxy, seeking refuge in the quiet place in anticipation for a better life that was not choked by the smog of interstellar warfare. There were even newly discovered riches emanating out of the city, drawing even more people as they attempted to find artifacts that had been left behind when the metal behemoth had dived from the skies and obliterated the city.

Somewhere hidden in the throng of meaningless individuals stood a blue-skinned explorer, red cape clasped against his back and flapping in the wind as airspeeders rushed by his position. The Arue'tii had naturally heard stories of the artifacts as they had filtered back into the galactic market, and he had found himself drawn to the world in hopes of finding his own treasures. Special areas had been setup by recently founded and growing companies specifically for the purpose of discovering these vital economic boosters that had given life back to the dead place.

Resting upon Abelain's side lay the Sith vibroblade that he had inherited after his servitude to his traitorous teacher, upon it were inscribed archaic symbols and words of languages lost long ago to the ages. The weapon held a certain tension to it, as though a sleeping beast ready to snap at the flesh of foes and rend them to pieces, though it lay quiet in it's slumber as of yet. Opposite that lay the barely discernible hilt of a lightsaber, resting in it's own right and awaiting the act of forced cauterization.

The walkway that Abelain stood upon was quite open, and a line of trees were planted through the direct center to give it a more natural atmosphere than would otherwise be present. The airspeeders were far ahead, flying in their own lanes and not endangering the innocents below. The sunlight was dying, casting a faint and gentle caress upon the ground and readying to give it's final crescendo in the form of a beautiful sunset. Tucked into a corner on the pathway lay a puny shack, the flickering lights of it's sign indicating it to be a location where the selling of artifacts was done.

The Arue'tii began to approach it, his chitinous 'smile' appearing and giving him a menacing and vaguely psychotic addition to his already frightening visage.

 

[Kara Blackmoor]

Kara didn't feel so sure about this. She had been told by her master to go hunt down a sith, and hopefully defeat him. Her master believed this would help with her major confidence issues, but Kara was having trouble even getting herself to do it in the first place. She had been tracking this guy down since the last system over, he had a force presence of a sith, but not a sith lord, perfect to her to take on. Hopefully this would be an accurate test of her skills, or at least a test of what she would need to learn.

Kara was above the sith, gripping to a wall above using Touch of the Kiin'Dray. She had a basic lightsaber for now, she did not have the crystal yet, though she could probably beat this guy. The person appeared to be some kind of strange creature, she had never seen anything like it. It seemed to have a hard exoskeleton, it was just so strange. Kara slowly made her way down the building's side, and snuck up behind the creature.

Upon closer inspection the creature was even more scary than it appeared from above, so she had trouble convincing herself to do this. Eventually though, she was able to convince her self, and she drew her lightsaber.

'Hey! yeah you!" She said with a sort of stuttering confident manner that was normal for her.

As she said that she ignited her lightsaber, preparing for a duel.

[member="Abelain Narv'uk"]

 

[Kara Blackmoor]

(double post)

 

[Abelain Narv'uk]

[member="Kara Blackmoor"]

The iron scent of blood was relatively common in a crowd of people, though it was much rarer for it to be directly above oneself. Still, the ability to discern individuals from one another, and even to take notice of species did not allow for the knowledge of intent. The Arue'tii knew there was a person above him, but it seemed more reasonable that they were simply conducting maintenance, not actually attempting to interfere in his mission. After all, what sane individual would challenge him and hope to survive the encounter. He continued moving towards the structure, making slight distance away from the person above and allowing them to gain access to his back.

When the female fell to the ground behind him, Abelain thought that she must have fallen accidentally from her perch. In a moment, she called for attention and he felt inclined to peer at whatever it was she was shouting towards. Spinning about slowly upon his heel and sending his red cape twirling around his side, the Arue'tii realized that the uninjured woman was shouting at him. The manner in which she spoke seemed to convey a lack of confidence which begged the question as to what she was attempting to gain at yelling at something she was afraid of. The most likely answers were that she was a simple ruffian, attempting to discern the species of the traveler, or perhaps even an attempt at profiting from tourism services.

The snap-hiss of a lightsaber dispelled those quarreling thoughts and set the female apart from all the others in the crowd who now found themselves backing away from what they considered to be a potential conflict in the makings. Abelain's hands moved down his side unconsciously, finding their grasping points in the form of the hilts of both the lightsaber and the Sith vibroblade. He withdrew both, igniting the crimson saber and allowing a creeping red light to form on the shadows under a nearby tree. With his off-hand, he awakened the beast that was the vibroblade, ordering it to arise from it's slumber with the promise of rent flesh and blood the color of the lightsaber.

"Who" He hissed through the closed chitinous 'smile', "Are you?"

 

[Kara Blackmoor]

Kara did not bother to respond to that. Identity was important, especially when attacking sith, with them your identity was your most valuable possession, as they could track you down easily in this galaxy. Kara knew little about lightsaber combat, and what little she did was in the field of Djem So. Kara went in for an opening strike. She saw there was a thick exoskeleton, not normally a good thing, she attempted to go straight for the limbs, specifically his left arm with the vibroblade. She swung over the shoulder attempting to hit him.
[member="Abelain Narv'uk"]

 

[Tyberius Fel]

Vorian Adasca fancied himself somewhat of a wanderer. The Jedi Apprentice flicked his hood to conceal the distinctive silvery hair of his Arkanian race, white-within-white eyes washing over the huddled masses of Livien Magnus. What great knowledge could lay here! Vorian was almost giddy at the thought of it, and thus propelled himself into the depth of the city. His gaze washed over old men, young women, flashes of neon lights. His bantha-leather boot landed in a puddle of stagnant water, soaking his clothing with the foul liquid. Vorian was not used to filth, but he shrugged it off nevertheless.

Strolling over a walk way, he ran his pale hand over the corrugated metal railings, truly processing the dizzying amounts of sights and sounds that filled the city. His finely tuned senses however, perceived the distinctive hiss of the condensed plasma beam of a lightsaber igniting to life. His pearly eyes sensed the nauseous aura of Bogan, flying to the source. A hunched beast of a humanoid, covered in a obsidian shell of rippling exoskeleton. The bogan.. the Sith held both a crimson lightsaber and what appeared to be a vibroblade, telling by the telltale delicate hum of the vibrogenerator.

Across from the beast, was a delicate-looking woman that charged at the monster. It was a thing of madness surely. Such a vile beast looked as if she could tear that woman apart. Yet, as a Jedi, Vorian was not so ignorant as to make a complete judgement solely on appearance.

The Arkanian Jedi gathered the force within himself, watched and waited.

[member="Kara Blackmoor"]
[member="Abelain Narv'uk"]

 

[Abelain Narv'uk]

[member="Vorian Adasca"] | [member="Kara Blackmoor"]

Abelain joined into the combat with an amount of aggression that surprised even himself. He was not used to fighting angrily and using that hate to fuel his abilities, instead he had fought calmly in the past, allowing himself to analyze the situation and not be drawn in by his emotions. He attempted to stifle the feeling, though it remained as a burning ember within his soul, begging to be released unto the inferior being that dare challenge him. The Arue'tii stretched his weapons outward to his sides to allow for more room to swing at the foe. She charged forward towards him, raising her blade high and hacking it downward upon the exoskeleton's left shoulder. With a fizzing sound, the blade would rebound slightly from the force of the blow, leaving a charred and blackened mark upon the previously blue chitin.

She was far too close to slash with his blades effectively using Shii-Cho. Instead, the Arue'tii used his right arm to lunge for the female, attempting to hook it in behind her while simultaneously stabbing at her left thigh with his vibroblade, leaving the lightsaber wielded by the woman undefended against except for by his hide. That was acceptable, Abelain intended to defeat his foe before she could strike down enough to move through his exoskeleton, and he hoped that; should it succeed, the pain from the thigh stab would prevent her from being able to concentrate clearly.

The light from the dying sun flashed in his eyes, and he knew that it would reach it's culmination soon, likely blinding anyone facing the same direction he was within the next few minutes. Likely, the female would be capable of easy sight based on her facing away from it, though it would prove to be a disadvantage lest the combat continue for that allocation of time. Slight frustration added fuel to the embers within the Arue'tii at the refusal of his would-be assassin to identify herself, though such things could only be expected from vile degenerates and weaselly scum.

 

[Kara Blackmoor]

Kara subsequently decided to use force push to move the vibroblade with the force giving her room to move, and she then quickly moved her blade to parry the light-saber. She then attempted to quickly initiate a counter strike, and swung straight for his abdomen in a low sweeping strike, attempting to sever the creature in half, most likely killing him.

Kara realized there was another force presence entering the field. She did not pay mind to him right now, as he was not interfering, but she would be vigilant.

[member="Abelain Narv'uk"]
[member="Vorian Adasca"]

 

[Tyberius Fel]

The Arkanian Jedi closely observed the ongoing skirmish with wary, analytic eyes. Searching for weaknesses, any opportunity. Yet, a internal conflict raged within his mind. On one palm, this grotesque caricature of a humanoid could very well had been a Sith or at the least, a Dark Jedi. However, he was not the aggressor in this situation. It was the woman who strolled forth, and swung her lightsaber first. Despite this, Vorian sympathized far more with the woman than the Sith-beast. Perhaps it was her admittedly attractive physical appearance? The Sith would have likely assailed her first, had she not taken the initiative to proactively defend herself. Vorian justified to himself.

For now, Vorian declined to intervene. Instead, he wrapped his spindly pale fingers around the hilt of his lightsaber, allowed the force to flow throughout his body and focused.


[member="Kara Blackmoor"]
[member="Abelain Narv'uk"]

 

[Abelain Narv'uk]

[member="Vorian Adasca"] | [member="Kara Blackmoor"]

The fight continued. Abelain found his vibroblade pushed away, though the offending appendage for the action seemed not to make physical contact. That only reinforced an idea that had already crossed his mind; the female was Force sensitive. What did confuse him somewhat was why she had assailed him, though the most reasonable answer seemed to be that he was of the One Sith, and they were of a rivaling faction or minor organization intent on stopping the progress of the dark order. Still, it seemed somewhat strange that they would choose to attack him, after all he had not contributed very much to the affairs of the Sith, and therefore was a petty target in terms of strategic advantage or benefit. In the end, it did not matter and Abelain dropped the subject from his mind to focus more wholly on the act of combat.

With a vicious hiss the lightsabers made contact with one another, the blow from the Arue'tii neatly parried. They were still quite close, and it was difficult to maneuver the blades properly, at least for himself with his long arms. The counter attack was rapid, though Abelain was far more prepared for the strike now than he had been the previous moment. When the plasma saber slashed at his midsection, he raised his left hand, still clutching the inefficient vibroblade so that the hilt pointed upward. The hilt would strike into the offensive hand of the woman and knock it slightly off it's target enough for the Arue'tii to slide backwards, dodging the narrowly attacking blow. With that dealt with, he would deactivate his lightsaber, setting it so that it was at about the height of the woman's chest and center, and then reactivating it in hopes of dealing a fatal blow.

The blood of the newcomer did not even reach his mind, instead he hissed: "Why do you fight me, inferior?"

Spoiler: Actions

1. Deflect lightsaber attack with hilt strike from left arm upwards. Vibroblade currently pointing blade downwards at about mid-level.
2. Deactivate lightsaber and center it so that emitter points towards Kara's chest. Deactivation allows for easier maneuverability.
3. Reactivate lightsaber towards Kara's chest.

 

[Kara Blackmoor]

Kara's attack was parried, and she had to think about her next move. The force was a strange thing, you could see the future, but it was not perfect, it was something between vague and explicit, it is both at the same time. Kara saw the man had deactivate his lightsaber, so she also deactivated her lightsaber, and at the same time did a combat roll to get behind him. She rolled opposite of the vibroblade in order to not get chopped in half, which was not a preferable thing to happen. Once she had stood up she would turn around, turn on her lightsaber, and attempt to stab him in the back, right through the chest.

Regardless of what happened she would state "You were flying a one sith ship, and the one sith are not my favorite guys to be flying around."

Spoiler: Actions.

1. Turned off lighsaber
2. Rolled behind abelain, opposite to his vibroblade.
3. turned on lightsaber
4. attempted to stab lightsaber through abelain's chest

[member="Abelain Narv'uk"] | [member="Vorian Adasca"]

 

[Tyberius Fel]

The Arkanian continued to spectate the duel. The clash of vibroblades and lightsaber, the vigor, the clean spins and twirls! Vorian had never shown much prowess in the realm of lightsaber combat beyond putting up a reasonably sturdy defense in the rudimentary form of Soresu he practiced. Such a dance of blades seemed to entrance the Jedi -- if ever so briefly. Vorian shook his head and silently dropped from the walk away, landing with a bone-shaking thud that sent a sharp spike of pain throughout the Arkanian's Jedi body and make him wonder why he didn't use the force to dampen his fall. Nevertheless, he pushed the sensation to the back of his mind and silently advanced within ten yards of the fighting.

In truth, Vorian had no real idea what he was doing -- but weren't Jedi Peacekeepers?

[member="Kara Blackmoor"]

[member="Abelain Narv'uk"]

 

[Abelain Narv'uk]

[member="Vorian Adasca"] | [member="Kara Blackmoor"]


Abelain sensed a discrepancy when the woman deactivated her own lightsaber instead of attempting a parry. He felt his feet clench, attempting to gain additional traction on the ground as he expected her to throw a Force ability such as a push towards him, an attempt to force him backwards and gain breathing room from the onslaught. That would be what the Arue'tii would have attempted, but it seemed the female had a different idea, and the sudden shove never came. Instead she rolled to his right side, crossing underneath his own crimson saber and landing somewhere behind him and out of range of his immediate vision. He spun upon his already tense feet, attempting to regain control of the misread situation.

There was a warmth suddenly palpable along his back, and accompanying it was the distinctive snap-hiss that defined an activated saber. The red cape along his back was torn asunder by the blade, a chunk of it left frayed and scorched from the blow. Where the weapon had struck lay a long horizontal line that ran along the length of half his back, the line was charred and blackened from where the plasma had made contact, though bits and pieces of it still held a lighter color where the blade had only grazed and not completely struck. It did not harm him, though it was alarming how quickly the inferior had managed to move and counterattack.

A new strategy was necessary if the battle was going to continue. The Arue'tii stepped away from the human slowly, making a distance of about two meters between the pair. Abelain stretched both hands forward, curling his elbows slightly to allow for the blades to not quite touch the floor in the coming tactic. Gently and; appearing almost limp, he began to sway the blades to and fro from the left to the right, and back again, apparently allowing gravity to carry each one down to it's destination, the hands becoming the pivot on which the pendulum swung. It had an almost mesmerizing effect if one were to spend time staring at it, though that was only a slight part of the coming strategy. The rest was simply convenient placement.

A chuckle found itself arising within Abelain's chest, and erupting from behind the 'smile' he wore. "You would attack me based upon the vessel I traverse within? That is petty of you, and a crude assumption you make of the nature of my character. I take only a hint of insult from your racist condemnation, however."

Spoiler: Actions

1. Spun around to face threat, was struck horizontally along back which created a char line.
2. Began to step away, separating the duelists by two meters.
3. Began to gently sway blades to the left and right in a vaguely mesmerizing and pendulum-like fashion.

 

[Tyberius Fel]

Behind the Arkanian came the flash of a neon light, bathing the fair skinned Jedi Padawan in a cowl of violet and crimson illumination. With an apprehensive hesitance, Vorian took a step forward, closing the distance between he, the Sith beast and the comely woman to nothing less than ten feet. He paused, closed his eyelids, allowed the force to spread his awareness like the tendrils of a tranquil sea creature across the acid rain swept concrete jungle of Ord Radama. A tingle traveling through his skin alerted him to another warm blare of light. What business do I have interfering in this conflict? What business do I even have upon this blasted planet?

Jedi were guardians of peace!

Did the pitiful merchants, item-hawkers and gawkers attempting to scrape by a meager living deserve to be caught in the cross fire between two potent force sensitives? Especially if the local policing authority got involved? The answer stared him in the face as blatant as the glowing neon that surrounded him.

No.

Vorian's fingers clenched white-knuckled around the hilt of a lightsaber.. then untensed. He could not subdue both of them and even if he could, he would merely be facilitating the very thing he was attempting to avert. So, the Arkanian would fall upon the most powerful form of all: form zero.

"Friends," He said softly, but in his best air of authority. "Sith, Jedi. There is no need to fight like rabid hounds over mere labels. Look upon the huddled, wretched masses of this planet. You represent your people here, and what they see is savagery. How would your masters respond to this? At the very least, take this fight away from a populated center." He pleaded, hoping his words would be heeded.


[member="Abelain Narv'uk"]

[member="Kara Blackmoor"]

 

[Kara Blackmoor]

As Kara's blade struck for teh third time, it became even more clear that this guys exoskeleton thing is completly impenetrable via normal means, she would need to get crafty, mabye fire would do something against this guy, but she would try simpler means before setting the guy on fire, that required excessive effort. That exoskeleton was impressive though, she kind of wished she had one, though she knew it was very unlike humans to grow exoskeletons build one mabye, but not of this kind of effectivness without putting in significant effort.

The crature then did something strange. He just stood there, swinging his weapons like a pendulum, how this was effective in a fight was not clear to her. But then again, it was really nice to look at, mabye just stare at it a bit longer........ Without knowing it she had been mesmerised by whatever he was doing, it was really hard to focus on the fact taht they were in the middle of a fight, she just wanted to keep watching it.

This trance was broken however by the strange person with a force prescense walking up to them and asking them to stop like some wartime hippy. This broke her trance as she looked to this person.

What the heck was this guy doing, doesn't he realize we are in the middle of a fight.

Kara looked to him attempting to convey confusion with her body language, this man was fairly interesting, but you dont kindly ask force users to stop dueling that isn't really how it works.

[member="Vorian Adasca"] | [member="Abelain Narv'uk"]

 

[Abelain Narv'uk]

[member="Kara Blackmoor"] | [member="Vorian Adasca"]

The uncanny tactic of swaying the blades to create a hypnotic effect upon the enemy appeared to be working, at least to an extent. That much was evident simply by watching how the eyes of the female seemed to slowly follow the blades, apparently lost in their gentle motions. It was a defensive maneuver picked up from his time on Ghul, especially useful for confusing less intelligent or inferior beings with it's calming movement. Still, if the female did not begin to attack soon, he would need to halt the tactic and begin his own assault upon her, this time becoming the aggressor in their violent campaign of swordplay. Suddenly, the Arue'tii scented the blood of an individual drawing closer, and with a rapid glance identified that they were not an immediate threat.

The man spoke, and Abelain devoted a piece of his mind to listening and interpreting him, the remainder staying locked upon the hostile woman ahead of him. The newcomer had identified them by their titles, or at least his own title. It was still unclear as to whether the opponent was actually a Jedi, though he did not have many personal experiences to refute that she was not of their vile order. A plea to cease hostilities, at least for the sake of removing themselves from a public area. He cared little for the harm that might befall passerby, especially if they were foolish enough to actually step into the path of the duelists, but he did not truly wish to continue the battle at all. The only reason that he would be compelled to do so would be to subdue his threat, and to retain his honor.

Those were quite good reasons, but the Arue'tii was not without some manner of compromise, "If this female assassin is appropriately punished, then I shall cease combat with her, it was not within my intentions upon landing here to incite war with anyone, though it appears to have been her goal." There was a curious idea that flickered into existence within Abelain's mind; what would his master; [member="Krux Mullarus"] do? The answer naturally, was that he would become a traitorous wretch, deny his old allies, and turn himself over to the same orders that now attempted to kill his forgotten apprentice. The female had turned her vision from him, and given him the perfect opportunity to skewer her with the launch of his vibroblade, but he refrained.

There was at least enough honor within him to keep him from attacking an opponent that did not view him, and he would sooner die than relinquish the grips of that code.

 

[Tyberius Fel]

A single bead of perspiration traveled down the temple of the Arkanian Jedi. It occurred to him, with a shudder of the bones and a shiver down the spine, that this was real. Not a sparring session nor combat simulation. He was standing between two combatants, unarmed, and if either them willed their blades to be buried in his skull then his short career as a Jedi would be extinguished as easily as a sputtering candle. Nevertheless, his diplomacy had seemed to be successful so far, if only in the form of it briefly stopping the two from clashing.

Through the raw fear, Vorian had to suppress a smile. The whole scenario possessed a morbid thrill to it, one that gave him a intoxicating tingle. Now let's see how further I can go.

"Assassins or no, continuing this petty farce will only result in bloodshed and suffering for both sides, with nothing to show for it other than nursing one's ego." The Arkanian pointed a single long, slender, clawed digit to the exoskeleton clad Sith Acolyte. "Can you claim otherwise, dark sider? Your natural armor has protected you so from, but your back bears marks from her lightsaber. Perhaps next blow will land between one of your chitin plates. Kill you. Or worse, according to your philosophy, cripple and enfeeble you." He whirled back to the female. "And what armor do you possess? No matter how swift your feet nor how quick your wits, the strongest of warriors can be fell by a single lucky blow, especially one wearing little to protect themselves. Would you fancy yourself bisected?" He questioned the both of them, hoping that they would not decide to put aside their differences and turn their weapons on what they most like viewed as a middling Jedi.

[member="Abelain Narv'uk"]

[member="Kara Blackmoor"]

 

[Kara Blackmoor]

Kara looked to the man, he made quite a convincing argument, she could get herself killed at this point, though she couldn't fail her master, not now. She had failed so many back at her home planet, coudl she fail her new master. Though would she do this at her own life, what were her options here. She did not know what she should do, the new person made a valid argument, yet she did not want to fail her master, what should she do? Kara thought through her options and not dying seemed like the best option today, she belived she had done well, sure she did not complete her mission, but as far as she was concerned she had made progress.

"As far as i am concerned you are dead." She said scornfully at the creature.

Kara then used speed of the toocha to run off into the crowds at high speed, she didnt win sure, but she had proven herself in her own mind, she knew that victory against this creature was next to impossible, but that didn't mater to here, they would meet again.

--Exit Thread--
[member="Abelain Narv'uk"]