Jungle Sidhe (Duel) 1vs1 vs1 vs1

[Paareth]

Kubindi | Ku’Bakai System | Calaron Sector
Kavash Jungles, Staging Zone TT619, Tempest Clearance Only
Dawn. Mild Cloud Cover.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjBN6ObgHiI
The procession of the damned always sounds best on hallowed ground.​

Forests crushed to dust in ages past left a barren, arid, dry air in their place. Now insects and their hives under the earth loved to call this place their home. While jungles, bogs, and swamps remained, the level of moisture over much of the world could leave a dry taste in the mouth, and so predators were forced to be smart or starve here.

Within reach of Sith, Jedi and Mandalorian space, hives under the earth and a planet that wasn’t exactly a tourist spot, this was the perfect place for a One Sith outpost. That old spectre that had died a death long ago. Mostly it was dead, the carcass picked clean, but not everyone agreed. Some of the strength after their fall had splintered, and sort refugee as so many fragmented alliances or factions do on the rim. Here one such outpost was located, but no large base, no this was a special facility for three unique masterless acolytes to feud over ownership.

The jungle here was thick, drier than most you’d find, the foliage though, thirstily lapped up what little moisture the weather could hold, and predators could be seen scurrying about occasionally. Predators that would sooner rip something to shreds than announce they were there, meals being scarcer than other planet's jungles no doubt. Underfoot the dirt was dry in patches and earthy in others, sometimes it crunched, and othertimes you left a clearer footprint.

Walking along a quaint jungle path, which looked like it had been cut recently and walked by a handful of people, a prisoner was being escorted by two One Sith troopers. The troopers although looking well travelled now, were wearing a variant of their stormtrooper armor, and from the 770th Loyal Sons Legion, if it made any odds in this day and age. They were clones of [member="Mythos"] and [member="Nyx"] respectively as their progenitor DNA. Both carried folding custom made blaster carbines and seemed alert and well trained enough to the dangers around them. The prisoner's head was bowed, she was in chains, and strangely her mouth was muzzled. It was hard to get a good look at her face, but her skin seemed oddly off color and she didn't walk like a human would. The three in their small procession seemed to be heading to a garden sized mound of earth ahead.

Someone or rather something very large was watching them walking from within the thick bush, and perhaps he wasn't the only one.

[member="Tathra Khaeus"]

NPCs:

Spoiler

The two Trooper NPCs are free to use as you like, armed much like this.

 

[Tathra Khaeus]

​​Kavash Jungles. Staging Area TT619

​The Bryn'adûl had been to Kubindi before, finding little of value in their last search. The planet was desolate, useless for monetary gain and too far off to dedicated resources to replenish. Yet, regardless of the Crusaders lack of military interest in the planet; the Seers sought audience with the Chieftain.

​They had advised him to head down to the planet surface, to walk amongst its creatures and they promised he would discover challengers hidden deep within the Jungle. Tathra had not seen much in the way of activity nor humanoid shapes within their jungles, yet he knew it would be unwise to leave any stone unturned in his search for glory.

​If there were to be challengers, he would best them and be stronger for it. The fire of their souls would be his.

​-

​Tathra had been on the planet's surface for perhaps half a day, moving rather abrasively through the depths of the Jungle. He moved within the thick of the Jungle, its dry grounds made for easy movement amongst its thickest areas, effortlessly shifting between the long trees. Tathra soon found himself on the trail of a small group of Imperial troopers, their armour appeared to be outdated. Closer to the One Sith, however his primitive eyes did not allow him great detail.

​Tathra had moved into the trees, now observing the small grouping as he sat, reclined into an open plateau of trunk as he relaxed nearly twenty feet off the ground. Perhaps what he was looking for.

​| [member="Paareth"] |​

 

[Paareth]

There wasn’t subtly in the large lumbering Trandoshan’s actions, thankfully he wasn’t moving much and the light wasn’t here fully yet, with the mild cloud blocking dawn’s rays. Both heat and illumination on this arid world were maybe more pronounced than most worlds on an average day.

A heavy foot was put forward, maybe a signal the game was about to start to [member="Tathra Khaeus"]. The crunch of dusty earth underneath leaves and twigs was unmistakable for the troopers ahead, they turned, raising their weapons. A thundering movement and smashed projectile of twigs, trunk, and leaves came crashing forward. A small fallen but heavy trunk had been hurled at the three of them. The Male Mythos clone turned and fired into it, shoving the female one out of the way and took it full force, splintering much of the smaller trunk, saving the other clone and going down cold. The edge of one branch smacked their chained the prisoner upside the head, and there was a crack as she fell to the ground.

Paareth began a loud run, pounding steps carrying his bulk and crashing through the trees. The female Nyx clone started firing into the bushes, but that was short lived because the prisoner’s muzzle had come off. The prisoner lept on the trooper’s armored back like a wild animal. There was a rending of metal, gnashing of teeth, like a caged beast let free, savage and untameable, her cuffed chains strangling around the female clone's neck.

Struggling, but with the prisoner bound it could have gone either way. Sadly there was a frozen pause, like the trooper was locked in place, and then snatched into the undergrowth by who knows what, that same prisoner on her back still looking to rip her to shreds, both disappeared from view, for now.

By the time Paareth actually reached the Sidhe and the sight of where they had been, the look of pure rage on his face and body, caused his breathing to tense the muscles, push the blood into the veins, bulging and writhing across the Trandoshan's body. The world turned red to him, entering a Trandoshan's hyper-rage, he began pounding and smashing at the earthy mound as if trying to kill the earth itself. Why he was punching the earth could soon be heard. Beneath the dirt, a metal door was ripped off its supports and flung somewhere in [member="Tathra Khaeus"]’s direction. The metal bent and twisted slightly as it clanged across the ground, perhaps hitting him, perhaps not. Paareth had no idea he was there yet.

“ssss'SHADOW” The barking of his snarling orders simple, a challenge to any and all, almost done like a dog hounding its kill for a master might. “NOWHERE LEFT TO HIDE.”

This was no normal Trandoshan, if Tathra looked further, there was not only the first signs of force sensitivity in this natural Trandoshan hyper raged state, but there had been experimentation done on the brute, sith alchemy from a dead Sith Lord and his apprentice Sith Knight, ran through this creatures veins like a thick black ichor beneath the skin threatening to burst from the experiments body. It was in effect Sith alchemy that was smashing on that door, a Master’s will using the flesh to smash this place into oblivion and any that stood in their way.

Gear:

Spoiler

One large vibroaxe on his hip, and the same Sith Trooper Armor, with a menacing heavy mace across his back.

[member="Tathra Khaeus"]​

 

[Tathra Khaeus]

​There was a commotion, a trunk flew from the thickness of the jungle - crashing into one of the clones as the other was pulled below with the ravenous prisoner. Tathra's eyes collected on the jungle edge, seeing the form of the trandoshan hiding within, outlined by his heat signature. The broad trandoshan dashed through the jungle fauna into the opening just before the mound of earth.

​The trandoshan was broad shouldered, and seemed to have an altered hide of his skin - more primitive and more robust reptilian features made up the expression of this rabid creature, darting around the jungle with little care. A door flew off in his direction, splashing into the muddied yellowy-green water as Tathra dropped down, his massive weight sending a shuddering audible thud through the ground.

​It appeared the Seers were right.

​"[Draelvasier]: Come, rabid claw."

​| [member="Paareth"] |​

 

[Paareth]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIp43THmcUI
Tathra had the size, at least until Paareth took his legs off...​

​

Momentary turning, then a snarling roar upward at the weighty sound. A Trandoshan’s hyper rage perceived only degrees of threat, it actively sought them as a natural conclusion to his rage. Rage that had to be spent on something, the door hadn’t proven enough. Clad in trooper armor up to his neck, he heard the words. Considering how he could best get his hands around Tathra’s throat and squeeze. Like you might consider what to eat for dinner. He smashed the helmet from his hip, firmly on his head, it bolted on, and he came for a killing.

The run started straight forward at the interloper, chewing up the often dusty dirt underfoot, he pulled the vibroaxe into his hands and it started whirring its many hungry teeth. Underneath the helmet he salivated black ichor, drooling out of his mouth, a blessing Tathra was spared the smell….

In the beginnings of a neophytes, alchemy imbued force rage. The brute’s attack was simple, the axe was crisscrossed once down across its body. Paareth moving his body in then out, then again the other way the axe came up, then down again in an X pattern, looking to split Tathra’s chest. The air was cut like a fast rotating saw, coming closer then away, a scything sound. A weapon of malice, and of many cutting teeth, it was large enough to benefit from the two hands he used, but could work with one.

[member="Tathra Khaeus"]​

 

[Tathra Khaeus]

​Tathra's stance shifted as the Trandoshan came toward him, the hefty rabid came charging forth - his movements were steadier than the titan expected from a being frothing at the mouth. The rabid came at him, a Vibro-Axe to bare. It would be many times over that Tathra had faced an opponent with such savage vigour.

​However he did appreciate that his opponent was coming to him, typically he was the instigator. Tathra raised his hands, open palms as his eyes watched the sporadic dance of his opponent, his prey. Tathra had height as much as reach, his open stance allowing the criss-crossing strike of the Trandoshan to pass his chest by mere inches. That was his mistake, the Trandoshan's weapon was lowered - no doubt for an upward strike.

​Tathra was a head taller, a mountain standing over a child, his weight nearly ten timers greater than that of his opponent. His closest arm to his opponent's weapon moved, the massive boulder shaped arm placing itself between his opponent and his impending strike, not allowing his now downward arm to create any momentum upward, nullifying any strength of a impending blow. In a concise, following movement Tathra moved like a blur of motion his fist - striking at the rib-cage first.

​If the blow staggered, Tathra would then use his lowered arm to strike upward, slamming the Trandoshans head back - then, if the blows were successful the titan would strike again with an open palm from his other hand to daze his opponent before striking with his left-most shoulder to throttle his opponent into the dirt.

​| [member="Paareth"] |​

 

[Paareth]

For all his ferocity the acolyte did not have the years’ experience or training for that matter of advanced technique, and it showed. Such huge weight from his opponent was probably both a blessing and a curse in melee combat. With the rib shot, the trooper armor crunched satisfyingly, Tathra’s weight and speed equaled a lot of impact force. Force so great he might have even bruised or more likely cracked a left rib on the very first blow, by his opponent’s snarls only intensifying that was probably true.

The first hit to the ribs sent Paareth sideways, then Tathra’s upper strike only added to this recoil, it snapped the Trandoshans whole body clean upwards and then back a few feet, nearly sending him off them, and certainly wrenching some neck muscles. If he had been any lighter or smaller he would have been thrown completely clear. The force you might say had been with the Sith acolyte, in his decision to put the helmet back on! Well, it was certainly smashed on tight now after that hit, and so was his bloodrage.

Naturally recoiling as he was, the final attack was avoided and as his opponent came at him, the whirring axe was thrust forward to try and catch Tathra’s forward movement, the weapon's head facing outward to create a whirring barrier. Snarling, blood boiling. Still held outward, paareth's axe was then turned sideways, and hacked diagonally upward, it's many hungry teeth looking to embed themselves across Tathra's chin, left then again right in violent, rapid succession. There wasn't a lot of control from the raging acolyte, but there was what benefited the axe as a weapon, forward aggression, and varying fast angles of attack.

The black ichor which ran through his veins tensed and flexed inside of him, using him as a fleshy shell, source of his rage, its lifeblood the reason he fought.

[member="Tathra Khaeus"]​​

 

[Tathra Khaeus]

​Tathra acknowledged his opponents fortitude, nearly subdued by the first two strikes - yet the rabid claw came again, angrier than before as he moved to circumvent Tathra's forward momentum. The Axe caught the edge of his hand, its vibrating metal chiselling at his furtively strong hide. Tathra's hand recoiled as the blade connected, the Trandoshan then turned its weapon as Tathra shifted onto his left leg, sliding in the muck.

​Tathra moved just far enough to allow the weapon to bypass his organs, the Axe cut into his plated vest, cutting into cloth, then hide and skirting across the Impervium plates on his pectoral muscles and upper abdomen. The strike leaving a large scratch across his vest and a bleeding cut along the length of his upper right abdomen.

​However as the Titan expected, the rabid claw was pushing his luck. Another strike came, now with a left leaning swing at incredible speed. Yet Tathra's advantage was in everything, the rabid claw was blind. Tathra moved his right foot forward, jolting forward slightly in a dashing movement as his left gauntlet rose to stop the smaller creatures weapon, his right hand moving to grab the mid-length of the Axe's handle.

If successful; he would easily pry it from its brazen and momentarily fixated hands - using his massive weight to turn the Axe on its user, slamming it into the Trandoshans skull with enough strength to splinter Beskar.

​| [member="Paareth"] |​

 

[Taresa Kae]

Still hype-raging of the blood and bone, seeing only the kill, relishing the impacts like some hound following his Master's orders. Paareth had yet to fully embrace force rage, or realise much about what he might be capable of. Within him he was attempting to push that force frenzy into use, and make it a part of that same blood and bone, but here it only cost him. The weapon was snatched fairly easily. Minute vibrating, sawing, teeth of the blade blunted on his helmet, shattering and ripping into it, cutting a great big hole to open as the metal gave way.

The troopers helmet was split in two eventually, the now blunt axe biting inward and lodging in there, as weapons often did on bone. For some of the remaining force in the axe chopped right into the trandoshans skull. Which had him drooling, gibbering, black ichor running down his armor, his face and dripping into the ground. The stench was not pleasant, he gargled and bumped into a nearby tree, his words making for even more unintelligible conversation than they had previously.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFUsPfuwjpw
A faint singing started.​

“Alls asleep in midst the tree’s…” Footsteps, cracking twigs, and a gun priming. The sounds came from all around Tathra's position, ahead, back, left and right. Trees and bush all around this clearing concealing their nature. “…eat you whole.” Taresa was in good spirits, a rare thing. Her competitor bested without even raising a finger, that and she loved her work. Perhaps this was the elusive ‘shadow’ the madclaw had mentioned hunting, at least prior to his head having an untimely meeting with his axe.

More traditionally the assassin wouldn’t be coming to Tathra. Nor would Paareth, because again from somewhere in the undergrowth he'd been snatched by something, vines? an animal? whatever it was, it didn't look all that natural, the maimed Trandoshan was hauled off bleeding out, with the axe still partially in his head. You could in the background hear him snarling for a while, until he stopped in some form of shock.

Sounds in four directions. Which one should Tathra trust? Not much time to think for the titan. The sniper rifle's first shot was targetted at his bleeding abdomen. The second was more hastily aimed generally at Tathra’s stomach. The advantage of this sniper weapon was it didn’t give off visible signs of where the shooter was, but that made it slightly less powerful. Still, a blaster bolt was a blaster bolt, it could be tracked back if he took the time to look at the direction to his left.

Although she might not seem like much. Judgement had killed several, in many stories around the universe, all in the service of one dead Sith Lord. A kethenite to the last, created to mock the Lord's former wife. When Tathra inevitably came or looked, he’d see a shimmer of a stealth field going invisible behind some rocks to his left, about 400 meters away. The multidirectional sound was a simple trick of four speakers broadcasting from a microphone attached to her body, confusing enough perhaps for a hunter, they might also offer clues if he used them to track her. For they were still broadcasting.

[member="Tathra Khaeus"]​​

Gear:

Spoiler

Armor: Asherian Sentinel Armor
Arms: Sniper (Soft) BTI WWSR - The Harpy
Belt: Stealth Field Generator | Verpine Energy Shield (Sonic/Energy/Temperature)

Waist: Backup Dauntless Combat Blade | Standard Lightsaber | Smoke Grenades x 2 | Ion Grenades x 2
Hips: Pistol Verpine shatterguns x2 | Holdout Hand Cannon

 

[Tathra Khaeus]

​His quarry with the Trandoshan had ended quickly, the axe finding permanence amongst the cracked skull of his opponent. Tathra thrust him aside, allowing his body to fall limp against a tree. However, before Tathra could move to delivered a finishing blow - a voice came from all around.

​A churlish song reached his ears, a tune of condescension thriving on its own femininity as it passed him by. Tathra recomposed himself, his focus shifting as he relinquished his interest in the fallen Rabid claw. Now, turning his attention to the taunting sound of a woman's voice. The titan's body anchored from left to right, he heard the noise. But there was no muzzle flare, the blaster shot hit him in his wound. Tathra winced as the next shot arrived from a similar direction, landing on his stomach and leaving little more than a scorched mark.

​Tathra grimaced, moving with slow intent as he took a few steps - noting the disappearance of the Trandoshan. Tathra moved in the direction of the blaster shots, moving into the trees with a powerful leap. Ahead was a glimmer, a strange revolving curtain of reflective energy amongst the heat and bustle of the Jungle. It moved like a human, that was certain. Tathra moved toward the other end of the rocks, intending to meet his opponent halfway - and climb for a vantage point.

​The titan broke into a devilish sprint, pushing past a few metres every second.

​| [member="Taresa Kae"] |​

 

[Taresa Kae]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rshuv91C8j8​

A few hundred meters away. Even so, it wasn’t hard to hear him approach, she’d got his attention. Dropping the microphone at her feet, he'd tracked her long enough. Trained as an assassin her first thought was avoidance, strike then move away. A stark contrast to Tathra's last opponent. A smoke grenade was loosened from her belt and rolled across the ground ahead, only adding to the difficulty the hunter would face to track her. Precious seconds. She put the rifle fixed in a tree branch and pointed in Tathra’s general direction, though it wouldn’t be accurate. He was also closing fast and if he continued at his storming run, she wouldn’t get far.

With her stealth field shimmering away behind the smoke, the half Echani hid behind a thick trunk about 50 meters right from the fixed rifle, off to Tathra's left. Through the force she squeezed the rifle trigger, it fired on its own through the smoke once randomly, the recoil dropping it to the floor.

Only when he was visible, side to her again, or did there seem any opportunity of success from an angle, would she step out with those shattergun pistols drawn. Horrible weapons for an assassin to wield, because again they were silent and punctured with some force. Thankfully her stealth field would fade as she fired. Whether he saw her in time, or whether the distraction worked who could say. At the moment, she still thought she was setting him up. Taresa was cocky though. Judgment was so sure of herself. That might be her undoing, because she laughed again very softly behind her mask just after she shot both weapons, judging the world of its worth to her dead Master's old ideals.

[member="Tathra Khaeus"]​

 

[Tathra Khaeus]

​Tathra pressed onward, a torrent of muck and sludge flung into the air with every striding push forward. The rocks ahead of him gave way to a clearing, Tathra slowed to a trot - his feet leaving large paw-prints in the muck. The metal grinding against small broken off branches.

​His closer vicinity to the clearing showed small footfalls in the his primal eyes easily filtering through the swarm of smoke, noticing the charged weapon hinged against a tree, its heat outlining its shape clearly to his titian eyes. Opposite it, small trails of heat showed him the trace of his newfound opponents movement. A singular hand rose as the sniper shot, absorbing the blast with little effort.

​Tathra moved with speed, moving into the underbrush as he circled around to the left of the tree that the trail disappeared behind. The titan moved like a blur, splintering the tree and hopefully damaging whatever was behind it.

| [member="Taresa Kae"] |​

 

[Taresa Kae]

Splinters and wood flew up around her, the tree's impact nearly knocking her out cold. She was agile, but still there was a shout from the behind the tree, and it wasn’t the mocking voice of earlier. Feeling the tremors in the earth from the huge weight slamming into the wood and shoved about 10 feet the other way. The daughter of Kae moved like an acrobat would, trying to go with it. One foot pressed, then another, falling behind another tree. Several chunks had impacted across the armored suit, and her stealth field shorted out permanently. Crackling with a zzztzzt, she threw it on the floor to provide another audio distraction, as it buzzed and buzzed.

On landing in a heap, she had apparently dislocated her right shoulder, “almost,” she coughed and tried to shake it off, not slow by much. “but still alive,” she mocked but it didn’t have the same condescending tone as at first. Clicking the joint into place, it was certainly hurting.

Distraction. Shoot. Avoid. Distraction. Shoot. Avoid. A familiar pattern, and a one trick pony but an effective one.

Around and behind, so very fast and agile, a jump, landing gracefully into view Tathra’s view about 15 feet away. She spun around to deliver a double-barrelled blast from the two verpine pistols, magnetic weapons like small railguns, each looking to puncture his midriff. Pressed low, ready to leap again, Taresa was taking each movement into an aerial perspective now.

That was a weakness, she was predictable, and pressed low as she was, Tathra might telegraph the jump before it came.

[member="Tathra Khaeus"]​