New Blood 2

[Froste]

((This is a continuation from a thread in the OS training section.))

Cole was given the command to run as the blood thirsty slaves began to charge. Luckily, Cole was very willing to oblige his master and he spun himself around to begin his tactical retreat. Running in a dead sprint, the Sith Acolyte had covered approximately fifty meters in a short amount of time. He reached down to his belt and pulled his lightsaber from his hip as he spun back around to face the savages. He spent a quick moment to evaluate how the slaves had positioned themselves.

[member="Konrad von Grimmelshausen"]

 

[cheshire_kitty]

The slaves ran together as a group after the Sith Acolyte. They had been promised freedom for the man's head and were prepared to work together to succeed in their mission. To the Sith, they may be disposable but that did noy change the fact that they too were sentient beings who had their own ambitions. They had no intention of dying at the hands of the Acolyte.

The slaves kept what they thought was a safe distance of 20 meters from the Acolyte and had half the group open fire at the man with the other half carefully approaching carefully with their primitive swords in hand. The may not have had a connection with the force but perhaps they might be able to overpower the Acolyte and kill him. Once the first wave of arrow had ended, the half that were approaching, ran at the Acolyte attempting to close the distance between themselves and the man to carve into his flseh with their primitive swords. They had nothing to lose except their lives. To the group, death was mercy.

[member="Froste"]

 

[Froste]

Cole watched the group of slaves approached. Half of them had stopped about twenty meters ahead of his position while the other half continued to slowly creep up on him. The Acolyte kept an eye on the men in the back and noted how they were notching arrows and preparing to fire. Anticipating the volley, Cole prepared himself to move quickly in order to not be hit by fifteen arrows. Suddenly, the arrows were let loose. Cole spent half of a second watching how they moved before throwing himself to his right. He heard the thump of the arrows hitting the ground to his left, and then the rumbling of numerous men beginning a sprint.

He brought his attention to the charging slaves with their primitive swords. Cole brought his hand up to the group of charging men and pushed outwards. A few of the men fell to the ground and a few others stumbled, slowing their approach. However, a few seemed unaffected. Those unaffected continued their charge towards the Acolyte.

[member="Konrad von Grimmelshausen"]

 

[cheshire_kitty]

Those unaffected by the push continued their charge at the man. However, they grew impatient at their inability to catch up with the man and threw their primitive swords at him in frustration. Three swords flew towards the Sith Acolyte while the four who fell to the ground ran at the man hoping that the swords that their fellow slaves aimed at him would be a source of distraction allowing them an opening to attack. As the three closed the distance between themselves and the man, they began to swing their swords at him, desperate to weaken him somehow.

Seizing the opportunity, the group who remained behind shot another wave of arrows at the Acolyte not caring if the arrows hit their own. Hopefully the slaves who charged at the man would be enough of a distraction for them to land a few shots on him. Every slave who was given the chance of freedom at the price of the Acolyte's life wanted to regain their freedom no matter the cost.

[member="Tymon"]

 

[Froste]

Cole watched as three of the slaves launched their weapons at Cole. Three swords spun in the air, quickly moving at Cole's body. In response to this, Cole sidestepped once more and crouched his body down. The thud of the swords planting themselves into the ground was Cole's cue to stand himself back upright. The flying swords was simply a distraction, it had seemed. As there now was three slaves charging Cole. They were nearly on Cole by the time he had noticed them, and had begun to wildly swing their swords in anticipation of contact. The Sith Acolyte brought his lightsaber up in time and sent a wide swing outwards, cutting the leading slave across the chest. The man crumpled down, his momentum sending him a bit past Cole's feet. Cole made the mistake of watching the man fall, which allowed the second charging slave to get a quick swing in at the foolish Acolyte. The swing had cut across Cole's left arm, easily going through the fabric and flesh. Cole winced instantly, and drew his arm back instinctively. Following the flinch, Cole brought his saber up with his right hand, cutting the man from hip to shoulder. And like the other, the slave fell as he died. Having learnt his lesson, Cole did not watch the man fall but instead brought his gaze to the last charging slave. The man had stopped before reaching sword or saber distance, and seemingly preferred to actually fight Cole.

Cole was confident in his ability to win a duel against an untrained slave who was armed with a primitive sword, so he moved himself into an opening stance. There was, however, one thing that Cole had seemingly forgotten about. He wasn't reminded of it until his would-be opponent fell toward Cole, with an arrow in his back. Instantly, Cole looked up at the archers some thirty meters away at this point and noticed they had released another volley at the Acolyte. He had no time to react and a single arrow had found its way to him. It landed in his left arm, slightly lower than the injury he had obtained just moments ago. Cole spent a moment to growl out loud as he felt the pain from the arrow. Filled with rage, Cole painfully raised the injured arm and used his pent up rage to fire a large bolt of lightning from his hand. He wasn't sure how much damage the lightning would cause to the group, and he didn't wait a moment to see. Cole immediately went on the offensive and charged at the archers, keeping his lightsaber up and ready to eviscerate the poor slaves

[member="Konrad von Grimmelshausen"].

 

[cheshire_kitty]

The slaves were used to whippings but a bolt of lightning was a new sensation that they were new to. The skin of several of the group blistered and burned upon contact with the lightning, impairing of a few of the group to fire arrows. The few seconds they took to recover was enough for the Acolyte to reach their location. Rather than remaining together and acting as a group, the slaves scattered. It was every man for himself now. Some, who would rather die rushed at Tymon hoping his lightsaber would save them from their pain of existence. They were not afraid, they understood what was going to happen and had already accepted their fate.

The rest could not decide whether they wanted to die by their own hands or at the hands of the Acolyte. While jumping off the cliff seemed rather tempting, would dying at the hands of a lightsaber wielding Acolyte be a faster and cleaner death? A few carefully considered their options in the few precious seconds they had to make the decision before acting on their choice. In the end all of the remaining slaves ran at the Acolyte in a final desperate attempt to murder the Acolyte. Either way, there was no winning for them.

[member="Tymon"]

 

[Froste]

Cole reached the slaves' location, and watched with enthusiasm as most of the group scattered and ran off. Even more surprisingly, a few of the ragged men had decided to simply stand still and accept their fate. Cole decided that it was not his place to deny them that right, and eagerly cut the weaker men down. He had spend no more than a few seconds in finishing off those who had surrendered, after which he brought his attention to the fleeing slaves. They spent a few seconds exchanging glances between the edge of the cliff and at the Acolyte himself. Cole couldn't help but feel joy at the thought of the slaves being too afraid to fight him and simply submit to a long fall down the deep hole in the ground. Unfortunately for Cole, none of them had decided to make things easy for the Acolyte, and they all made their way to Cole, forgetting how that had ended for their comrades.

What Cole had thought would be simple and painless was not, in the end. He had figured that the slaves would be able to do just about nothing to him, but with the survivors swarming him that story was different. He had watched the men run at him, and he brought his attention to the slave who would have made it to him first. With ease, Cole brought his lightsaber through the man's chest. However, this had left him open to attack. The slaves encircled him and began tearing at him and his clothes. Cole brought his lightsaber around, trying to cut as many slaves as quickly as possible. One of the few remaining slaves was able to get a hand on the arrow that was still lodged in Cole's arm, and twisted it sharply. Cole winced and was visibly in pain, and swung the lightsaber low and backwards, severing one of the slave's legs from his body. The slave fell to the floor while Cole brutally dealt with the other few remaining. Now with this last surviving slave, the one who had twisted the arrow, Cole had something special for him.

Using nearly the very last of his energy, Cole sheathed his saber and reached down to grab the slave by both hands. Cole began to drag the man in the direction of the cliff, with the man noticeably struggling more and more as he realized what Cole's intention was. However, it was too late for this man. Yelling, Cole swung the man off of the ledge, forcing him to suffer the long fall down to his death.

From the cliffside, Cole looked back at Konrad, his master. Wanting to waste no time, Cole stumbled back over to the Sith Knight and fell down to one knee before him. "My master," Cole choked the words out between breaths, with the last of his adrenaline and rage dissipating. Simply by looking at the Acolyte, one would be able to tell he was injured. Blood was draining rather rapidly from his left arm, due to both the sword cut and the now crooked arrow. There were also various scratches and small cuts from the final skirmish between the Acolyte and slaves.

[member="Konrad von Grimmelshausen"]

 

[cheshire_kitty]

Konrad took a glance at the Acolyte; his left arm was bleeding quite heavily and needed medical attention immediately. As much as he hated defacing the uniform he was so proud of, the well-being of his apprentice was more important. Tearing a part of his coat, he made a tourniquet out of the cloth and tied it tightly on to the wound to help minimise the bleeding. "Good job," he complimented his apprentice. Tymon had worked hard and deserved recognition for his efforts. "There is a medical team aboard the ship that the slaves were transported on. Head on board and you will receive medical attention and be returned to base."

The Brigadier General nodded towards the ship before boarding it to begin preparations of his own before the ship was to depart. The Sith Knight was not one to take a liking to others easily but he acknowledged the Acolyte's efforts and found him to be an agreeable man. Tymon was someone with whom he was willing to share his knowledge with - not because he was ordered to by his superior, but by choice.

[member="Tymon"]

 

[Froste]

Cole watched silently as the Sith Knight tore his own uniform to create a tourniquet. He held his left arm out to make it easier to tie the tourniquet around, keeping his head bowed as his master finished securing the thing. Then, Konrad gave the Acolyte praise. Still with his head bowed to his superior, he spoke, "Thank you, master." The Acolyte was then instructed to board the ship that had brought in the now deceased slaves, due to there being a medical team on board that could aid his injuries further. Cole stood and all but dragged his feet over to the ship, making sure he didn't trip over any dead bodies on the way. Upon boarding the ship, Cole immediately laid down wherever the medical team instructed him and allowed them to work with no interference. He was way too tired to obstruct the men who were aiding him.

[member="Konrad von Grimmelshausen"]