Private Reshaping

[Mathieu Brion]

Reshaping​

Location: Telos IV
Notable Equipment: Jedi armour, various items
Tags: Zoraya Ives-Ayres

---​

Lightsabre scars littered the floor and crates in the path of the fighters. One was already defeated. The Acolyte's weapon had been taken by his peer as he laid on the floor. Knocked out with a cut by his left leg.

The battle was still raging on, however, as Mathieu fought the remaining foe. His blue sabre moved fast from side to side as he parried a flurry of attacks whilst constantly trying to find openings to push forth and to keep the Sith backpedalling. It was a slow approach but his stamina was extensive and the opponent was tiring.

The end of the battle came suddenly. For the moment that the dark warrior slipped up, Mathieu exploited the opening that was offered to him. The familiar sound of blades clashing was suddenly replaced by that of a lightsabre cutting through flesh. The red lightsabres extinguished just as fast, allowing the vicinity to be drenched in the blue light that flowed from Mathieu's weapon. His opponent looked to him with surprised eyes. Lowering the tip of his blade to point at the Sith's core, the large Morellian directed her towards the already defeated Acolyte.

Once there, Mathieu threw a heavy punch to the head of the last conscious Sith, immediately knocking her out. Handcuffing someone who had just lost a hand might have been both brutal and inefficient. Looking down at the two dark siders, the blue blade's hum ceased as the Jedi extinguished it. An odd sense of calm washed over their field of battle. A hangar in one of Telos' busier spaceports located deep within the city sprawl.

"This is Mathieu. The two Sith you found have been incapacitated. Can you send a retrieval team and a medic to docking bay G23?" He raised his arm as he spoke through a wrist communicator. After a brief pause, an older voice answered "Copy that. They are en route. Chaussidier out."

Then came the waiting as the Admiral prepared the personnel and equipment that had been requested. After checking on the lifesigns of both foes, Mathieu sat down on some of the crates that had escaped harm during the battle. There, he closed his eyes and tried to centre himself. Reaching out through the force, he could feel the busy city around him. People were moving about in the vicinity of the hangar. But then his eyes shot open. Something wasn't right.

 

[Zoraya Ives-Ayres]

The sound of several sets of approaching footsteps could be heard, deliberate and not rushed, amid the other din and clangs of the docks. Before long, the ISB agent dressed in drab uniform appeared from around the corner, flanked by a couple of stormtroopers, with a less than sunny disposition. Her gaze shifted down to the unconscious lumps on the floor and then to the person nearby she could only assume was responsible.

If the distant sound of the lightsaber hadn't exposed him then his fallen foes would. The blade's distinct hum and whirring served only as a source of irritation for the Imperial who had decided the situation was worth investigating for that reason alone.

It was a scene she had seen before: the Jedi hero saving the galaxy from the Sith. Only, they were ineffective. Sith were a scourge with no place in the civilised world but the Jedi were weak. They washed their hands of responsibility and were really only covering their own backs. She was indifferent towards the Jedi, even if her sister had been one of them.

Assessing the situation, Zoraya halted between the Padawan and captives, facing him but blocking line of sight... at least until he stood up. Looking up and down the huge Morellian with a shameless look of judgement, she addressed him.

"We'll take it from here." She told him coldly.

Mathieu Brion​

 

[Mathieu Brion]

Reshaping​

Location: Telos IV
Notable Equipment: Jedi armour, various items
Tags: Zoraya Ives-Ayres

---​

Imperials. Not the ones loyal to the Sith, but the ones who had rebelled against them. Mathieu's gazed into those of the woman. She was, rather obviously the one in charge and there was little to gain by staring into the visors of the Stormtroopers. Her slim form was somewhat illusive. For at first glance, she might not have seemed like much. But upon closer inspection, it was clear that she didn't have an all too lax lifestyle. In fact, the opposite seemed to be true.

With his stims still active from the fight and still with plenty of stamina to go, Mathieu was far from unprepared for another encounter. But then, it would be preferable if he could avoid further violence. "You do not have that authority here." he spoke with a determined tone whilst rising from the crate to stand on his feet.

"My team is en route to pick them up for treatment and ultimately to face justice." It was the truth. Although, Mathieu's view on what fit within the realms of 'justice' was probably wider than that of the Imperial. His weapons remained sheathed. Both sabres hung by his belt underneath the outer robes. One warm to the touch after heavy use. The other still cold.

With a quiet step forth he spoke once more "It would be best for you to depart from here. Now. Now that we are still at peace. There is no need for conflict between us."

Continuing forth, Mathieu walked with slow but determined steps on a straight course towards the prisoners and straight through the woman and the two Stormtroopers. He would keep walking until he reached the captives or - somewhat gently - bumped into the Imperial standing in his way.

 

[Zoraya Ives-Ayres]

"No less than you." She replied coolly, her gaze rising with him though her expression remained one of emotionlessness, even as he towered above her and her companions with his impressive physique. At least the Imperials brought true security to the galaxy, whereas the Jedi just ineffectively meddled in affairs wherever they went.

"Justice?" She scoffed, her tone suggesting irritation more than amusement. "You don't know the meaning of the word." The warped Jedi version of justice was far too soft in a galaxy gripped by evil. Any attempt at 'justice' was an insult to those who sought to protect the galaxy and not their own feelings.

The revelation that others would soon be arriving didn't concern her. While it would mean the trio would likely be outnumbered, she doubted anyone else who arrived would be an issue. Her focus was on the Jedi and only the Jedi.

Her gaze remained with him, watching his next move. She wasn't about to move for him but it seemed he wasn't prepared to adjust his course either as his arm connected with her shoulder.

While not a particularly hot-headed person, she would make a point not to be disrespected so before he could have the opportunity to turn around and face them again, he would no doubt recognise the sound of a blaster being drawn.

With the weapon aimed at the back of his head, as more of a threat than anything, she made her demands clear. "Step aside."

​

Though their faces were concealed, even by body language it was evident that one of the troopers was surprised by the move made by the agent. Even he knew it was excessive, but in her mind the Jedi was the aggressor and she was merely responding.

Mathieu Brion​

 

[Mathieu Brion]

Reshaping​

Location: Telos IV
Notable Equipment: Jedi armour, various items
Tags: Zoraya Ives-Ayres

---​

The sound was all too familiar. The Imperial had pulled a blaster on him. On the, somewhat, neutral world of Telos. He thought of how disrepectful it was of the locals. But then, he had only just sheathed his own weapon after a prolonged battle against the Sith who now laid unconscious before him.

For some time, he remained still. Being held at gunpoint was never pleasant. And while he had limited interactions with Imperials of her kind so far, he did not doubt her willingness to pull the trigger. The Jedi's wide shoulders dropped slightly as he let out a sigh. Surrendering to her was not an option he would consider lightly and it now seemed rather unlikely that she would depart from the hangar willingly.

After a few moments, he raised his left foot and slowly turned on the axis of his right foot. In practice, it meant that he did move to the right, just as she had instructed, but it also meant that he would now face her, and potentially her blaster, if she decided to follow him with it. For a moment, Mathieu considered igniting his sabre and slicing her blaster in half. But then, that involved an uncomfortably high degree of risk of death.

With one hand by his sabre hanging by his belt, he raised the other with his palm up. "I brought these two down. They are my prisoners. I will not surrender them to you." His eyes ventured from her to her two followers before returning to the one who appeared to be in charge. "I do not wish further violence." He was unsure of how much weight his words would carry, seeing the dismembered hand lying on the floor nearby. But then, both of his former opponents were still alive. "I have shown you patience and temperance. Now I will ask again. Please, leave."

 

[Zoraya Ives-Ayres]

Watching his every move, her gaze and lock on him with her weapon didn't falter. Even when facing each other she didn't move as she knew Jedi could be particularly volatile and even with her lack of training in the Force, she expected to receive some inclination of a warning if he were about to make a sudden move, though that would be beyond her control.

He almost made a valid point. He had felled the Sith whom they were at odds over. However, he was wrong in his belief that they it gave him the right to decide their fate and stated as such. "I don't care who brought them down. They're nobody's prisoners. They're as good as dead is that they are." She made her view clear.

She almost scoffed at his apparent desire for no further violence. A Jedi virtue. "Then leave." She replied. Risking his life for some Sith was one of the more stupid things she had seen a Jedi do but she couldn't say it surprised her.

Clearly, she was not going to back down so easily and continued to be uncooperative as she demanded. "Stay out of my way."

With a slight turn of her head towards the troopers, though with her attention still largely on the Jedi, she issued a single command. "Shoot them." At which point both mobilised to complete the task.

Mathieu Brion​

 

[Mathieu Brion]

Reshaping​

Location: Telos IV
Notable Equipment: Jedi armour, various items
Tags: Zoraya Ives-Ayres

---​

Not only was she being uncooperative. She was also being rude. Mathieu had higher expectations of Imperials. He had thought that they would have other standards. But no. Chaussidier had said as much 'Disappointment is inevitable. The question is how you deal with it'. Indeed, the question was how he would deal with her.

Mathieu was about to speak. To give her another chance. To rise above.

But then she gave her troops the command to kill. It was unacceptable and so, he sprung to action, his mindset of reaching a peaceful conclusion switching to one of defence at a moment's notice.

It was only a subtle movement in his fingers that made his open palm close into a fist. As the fingers came down, Mathieu reached out through the force to pull the three of them closer. He would apply a sudden yet powerful pressure to their lower back to brim them closer, hoping that this would bring their weapons up as the were pulled towards him.

As an added security measure he ducked down low to avoid any shots fired as a pure reaction. But him going low was not purely defensive. Instead, he also ignited his sabre and leaned forth. If the stars aligned and his plan succeeded, his slash would be timed to cut their legs off as they were pulled in towards him.

 

[Zoraya Ives-Ayres]

Her finger resting precariously over the trigger, she was ready to put a blaster bolt through his head at a moment's notice. However, she was not able to detect such resistance until it was already taking place due to the subtlety of his movements.

Using the Force was a dirty trick the Jedi used to leverage an advantage. Still, there was no time to be irritated by tactics when faced with the immediate threat of a lightsaber. She reacted quickly, leaping forwards to vault over the Jedi, using his shoulder to push herself off of.

Being such an instinctive reaction, it was poorly thought out and so she landed in a rathe unspectacular roll on the ground but quickly recovered to get back to her feet. Her companions had not fared so well.

"Are you crazy?!" She gestured widely, the weapon still in her hand, though not aimed at him as she was busy being shocked by the events that had just unfolded.

Aware she would need to finish the job herself, she drew her second blaster and aimed them both at the Jedi, who had been given ample time to react, before firing at him. If he deflected them back towards her then she would activate the shield emitter at her wrist in defence.

For now, the matter of the Sith was aside. If she wanted to get to them then she would need to go through the Jedi. He had made that clear.

Mathieu Brion​

 

[Mathieu Brion]

Reshaping​

Location: Telos IV
Notable Equipment: Jedi armour, various items
Tags: Zoraya Ives-Ayres

---​

Her reaction was better than that of her armoured followers. Both of the Stormtroopers were cut down. From his point of view, it looked like they had already let go of their weapons, lowering their threat level a lot. Especially combined with their lack of legs. If they were lucky, the chock would render them unconscious. With the officer still very much active, it was unfortunately not something which the Jedi could tend to.

Her outraged question amused him. After having ordered to have his prisoners shot and with a dismembered hand lying on the floor, her surprise sure seemed to come out of nowhere. It was hard not to become increasingly annoyed by her manners - or perhaps lack thereof. But then, with the current state of their relations, he could not expect all too much from her.

What followed was a flurry of bolts from both of her blasters. It was something which Mathieu excelled at dealing with as his well-practiced Soresu allowed him to deflect and reflect bolts expertly. Of course, reflection was not prioritised, seeing as how his focus had to be on not getting hit. Even then, a few shots would bounce back towards her with at least two of them heading straight for her feet. If she used her wrist mounted energy shield to defend against them, it meant that she would more than likely have to go low.

Regardless of how she defended herself, Mathieu would slowly but surely press forth. The blue light of his sabre would move as if in circles as he did his best to stay out of harm's way. Suddenly, he let out a pained scream as one of the bolts slipped through to hit his side - fortunately, his heavy armour was well designed to keep him from injury. Still, it burned hot and the impact caused him extreme pain. Albeit slower, the Jedi continued on his path towards her. Instead of dropping his guard to attack her with his sabre, Mathieu moved even closer to the point where he could safely throw a slash against her blasters. But that was not the true attack - instead, he followed it up closely by throwing his free hand forth in an attempt to grab her by the arm.

 

[Zoraya Ives-Ayres]

Having never faced a Jedi in single-combat before, she wasn't sure what to expect. She was not naïve about the encounter and she knew they were well-trained, as was she, but with no melee weapon to combat him with and him having the overwhelming power now she had no ally support, it seemed she was fighting a losing battle.

Still, she remained confident and she was not one to back down. The altercation may lean in his favour but he hadn't won - not yet.

Her low opinion of Jedi would decrease even further as a result of their encounter. She had very little respect for them to begin with anyway. They were fools. She could at least respect that her sister died for a cause they both shared, even if she had been misguided by the Jedi. The fool who stood before her was just a pawn in their game.

After successfully defending against any offensive shots, she hoped that perhaps he would get fatigued and make a mistake she could exploit but before it could get to that he began pushing to gain ground which she quickly recognised and took steps backwards in response to avoid getting disarmed by his lightsaber which was becoming unnervingly close as his strides were larger than hers.

The sound of the bolt making contact with its intended target was music to her ears. Just one strategically placed bolt and he would be out for good. While not a heartless person, years of training and indoctrination had left her desensitised to killing others. It was not nearly as big of a decision to her as it should have been. It was just a part of the job, a clinical necessity, nothing more.

Despite moving away from him, he soon caught up to her and while she tried to avoid the blade by opening her arms wider, it caught one of the blasters and her other hand was caught by his. With an angry scowl, she tried to yank her arm away from him. "Get off me, you fool." She demanded, angrily.

Mathieu Brion​

 

[Mathieu Brion]

Reshaping​

Location: Telos IV
Notable Equipment: Jedi armour, various items
Tags: Zoraya Ives-Ayres

---​

It seemed like a success. For the hand with the blaster that he did not manage to cut was the arm that he managed to catch. Her trying to pull away was not doing much good as he tightened his grip. It would be vice-like without augmentation and with the strength enhancing stims, it was even harder to escape. Not only that, but his hold around her arm was painfully tight to the point where it risked going numb.

"So that you can unload another magazine at me?" His voice was raised as he snapped back. Anger was not present but appearing in an aggressive light was unavoidable. In the heat of battle, it could be hard to avoid. Especially with the ordeal reminding him of Sam's parting gift all those years ago. Instead of doing as she demanded, Mathieu yanked her arm upwards, exploiting his significant height advantage to bring her feet off of the ground.

Keen on protecting himself where he was the most vulnerable, Mathieu brought his right leg forth, effectively making it harder to reach for her as she hung. His sabre continued spinning a few laps, continuing the motion he had kept it in while defending against her flurry. It served as an effective reminder that she was still very much in danger. But it was more than a reminder. With a quick change of angle, the sabre would slash towards the blaster she still held to disarm her completely.

Once that happened, he would extinguish the blue blade. His captives were intact. The two Stormtroopers had been nullified and there she hung. "You wanted to have them executed. I should bring you in to face justice too"

 

[Zoraya Ives-Ayres]

His words only served to anger her further as she didn't reply but instead audibly strained as she tried to pull away but it quickly became apparent that it was not an option.

With him having a death-grip on her wrist and the weapon in her free hand being worthless, she dropped the weapon in the hopes of taking the weapon from her restrained hand and aiming it at his head. However, with all the power he held, he soon rendered her remaining weapon worthless too with one swipe of his lightsaber so she dropped it also.

Her initial frustration turned to anger as she threw her fist towards him in a crude attack even by her own standards. "Put me down, you oaf!" She burst out, a scowl on her face.

What did they feed Jedi? Were they on some kind of steroid diet?

While she would have normally responded to his threat with a sarcastic remark, she was in far too much of a humiliating situation to muster up any snarky comments, not to mention the strain on her arm and wrist which was becoming increasingly uncomfortable. "Under what jurisdiction?" She practically spat. It was laughable. She was ISB. She would never see so-called Jedi justice.

Concealed behind her back, she quickly reached for the vibroknife and stabbed it in the direction of his arm that held her. She ran the real risk of being injured by his lightsaber but she had confidence in her attack and it was her last hope.

Mathieu Brion​

 

[Mathieu Brion]

Reshaping​

Location: Telos IV
Notable Equipment: Jedi armour, various items
Tags: Zoraya Ives-Ayres

---​

His threat to bring her in for justice was answered with a legal question. He held in an flabbergasted chuckle whilst momentarily looking away. Would this one never know when to stop? Whatever the right answer to his question was, what she provided was not it. Still, slowly but surely, he was realising that she would, indeed, be a rather poor target for capture. For obviously, she held some sway with the Imperials - not the bunch who would respond mildly to one of their own being captured. Still, he snapped back with a quick response "Mine!"

But the Imperial didn't seem to like that. Not at all. Seemingly out of nowhere, she produced a knife and flung it towards the arm with which he held her. The sudden action caught him by surprise. Mathieu quickly released his grip over her wrist to pull his arm away, resulting in the woman quickly starting to drop. It would cause the knife to hit lower than initially intended and thus, it would hit his armour plate. If she was not careful, it could easily get stuck if it made its way deeper into the plate.

The defensive measure was quickly followed up by an offensive one. Just as he feet hit the ground, his other hand, still holding the sabre, shot up towards her abdomen. The initial strike came with tremendous force but it would soon become apparent that the main thrust of the attack continued. Rather than retracting his hand once the punch had been made, Mathieu kept pushing forth to eventually heave her upwards. This time, however, he would not try to hold her - for his mind was still set on getting her and the knife she held away. With a seemingly simple move, he suddenly stayed his hand, effectively tossing her away.

 

[Zoraya Ives-Ayres]

Despite the success of her attack, it had not been quite as lucrative as she would've liked, scraping his armour with the awful squealing sound of metal on metal, rather than dealing any real damage. For now, however, it was all that mattered. Increasing the distance between them was her priority, to stay out of arm's reach. As the more nimble of the two, she held some advantage, but as did he with his overwhelming physique as he had so justly displayed.

With her feet touching the ground, she was prepared to jump into action but before she could so much as blink she felt a blunt pain hit her in the abdomen which would've been enough to temporarily disable her as the sudden force against her unarmoured midsection left her winded. But it wasn't enough for the Jedi who wanted to complete the job thoroughly and as such continued with the attack.

The suddenness of his violent throwing across the bay, and the lack of armour Force training she had to provide any meaningful protection, proved to be an unfortunate combination as she landed on the floor in a heap after being stopped by a wall. She lay on her front, with the blade lying a few feet away from her open hand but she showed no indication of retrieving it, or doing anything for that matter as she lay motionless on the ground aside from the occasional laboured breath.

Mathieu Brion​

 

[Mathieu Brion]

Reshaping​

Location: Telos IV
Notable Equipment: Jedi armour, various items
Tags: Zoraya Ives-Ayres

---​

Maybe the force he had applied was a little bit excessive. For the force with which she was yeeted away certainly seemed to carry her far. At least her knife was no longer much of a threat.

Mathieu jogged towards her and only slowed his pace once he got closer to the Imperial. It was a precaution in case she was waiting for him to approach before lunging at him once more. At least the knife was no longer in her hand and her blasters were both destroyed. With careful steps and watchful eyes, he kept inching nearer until he could truly see the poor state she was in.

Perhaps for the first time since they met, Mathieu felt some sympathy for her. Quickly closing the distance between them, a crouched down an had his palm hover above her head. Closing his eyes, he reached out through the force. It was not something he was good at - healing people. But he had hung around the healers' quarters quite a bit back when he was still together with Inara. Using what he had learned, he tried to get a sense of how she was doing - for one thing was certain: She was very much unconscious.

What's more, it seemed as if her life signs were feigning. Mathieu went into deep concentration to the point where he ignored the shuttle that Chaussidier had sent. The crew went on about their work as the Jedi tried to restore some of the woman's vitality. He was far from skilled enough to heal her fully, but what he could do was to stabilise her to prevent her from dying or getting any unhealable physical injuries.

"There" he whispered before opening his eyes. He had reached a point where she was stable and where he could not go any further. The process of trying to make her better had been more draining on him than the battle itself. The mysteries of the force was truly not his strong suit. His eyes carried a heavy tone of regret as he looked at her while stepping away.

The crew had already carried the Sith onboard the shuttle along with the broken lightsabre pieces. Mathieu walked to join them with long strides. Only stopping to pick up the severed hand. "Make sure to call the Telosian authorities. Three people need immediate medical attention." It was of little risk to him. The traces of his personal presence were all but wiped from the hangar and by the time the ambulance would arrive, he and the Concord crew would long be gone.

End