Private Think Of The Children! (Darth Imperius)

[Jend-Ro Quill]

CARIDA

Imperius - a name that suggested impressive ambition and absolute confidence. A man walks around the Sith Empire with a Darth name like that, you know he's not afraid of anything.

Quill's vision had been a little low on detail, regardless of the power of Kelos Windspeaker's saber - but the name had come through loud and clear.

Fast-forward two days and Quill found himself at a stretch of canal through a wealthy part of some city on Carida. One side of the canal, with observation galleries attached, leaned over a deep cliff. The other fronted on a high-income neighborhood dotted with minor embassies and a couple of elite private schools.

The vision had suggested that Imperius wanted to take children. That was all the detail Quill really had, and all he required.

As the Dark Side swelled nearby, he took out his own saber and ignited it. He was down by the canal, where the wealthy kept their boats. This felt like the place, if only because people were clearing out of the area en masse. Word was spreading between the locals, but word of what?

 

[Imperius]

Imperius could feel it. He was no ordinary Sith. He was beyond titles and the need for more power- because when it came to getting things done, he did it the best. He had always done it the best.
And now... now he felt a presence Nearby. A being, proficient in the force, rising to challenge him.
Yet Imperius’s first thought was not how he would crush this annoying bug. No. He was after all, the emperor’s blade- and he lived to fulfill the duties that came with it.He would be ensuring this mission was a success.
”go ahead. Take the boys and that girl to the rendezvous point at once. Ensure that nothing goes wrong.”
”Yes, my lord.” Trooper Kenneth responded. She was a good soldier, capable of following orders and sufficiently combat-ready. The children would be brought before the emperor. The mission would be a success.
now, it was time to get rid of that annoying little vermin. He ignited his lightsaber and walked towards him, not nervous at all. After all, he was Imperius. He was Invincible.

 

[Jend-Ro Quill]

Imperius

Down the way, Quill noted troopers hustling children along. They'd be strong in the Force, at a guess - what other use would the Empire have for just a few specific children? Well, maybe hostages, but Carida wasn't nearly as important these days as ten years ago. Regardless, Quill couldn't do a thing about them until he'd gone through the man who wanted to go through him.

The Sith Lord in question was tall, lanky, with heavy gold-plated armor that would almost certainly stop Quill's lightsaber for one reason or another. Old eyes picked out potential weak points and gaps where the bulky plates overlapped. This inevitable fight would be a matter of angles. That two-pointed spear would block off those angles effectively.

Quill shrugged off his tattered outer robe and pointed his lightsaber at the oncoming Sith. "Doesn't look like they want to go with you," he said. He took a step away from the canal, keeping it on his left side for the moment.

 

[Imperius]

The jedi was right handed, and was attempting to keep the canal on his other side. Perhaps the jedi was considering rapid feints with his lightsaber and then using the canal to keep him locked in position? Regardles, the best course of action was for a startling charge to keep the jedi off balance, followed by a tactical retreat to keep the jedi away from the troopers and the children.
And so, he began to speak.
”Let’s not start a fight, now shall we? After all, your own philosphy indicates that one thing that must be avoided at all cost is viol-“ Imperius saw it. Noticed as the disheveled jedi stopped hearing and started to listen, tried to think about what Imperius was saying- and that was when Imperius struck. He quickly held the spear horizontally and charged, angling it just right for the blow to hurt, but at the same time push the jedi out of his way and into the canal, allowing Imperius to take the tactically sound position at the rear of the grou, even as they retreated to the shuttle about a hundred metres away.

Jend-Ro Quill

 

[Jend-Ro Quill]

Imperius

"Well, actually-"

The Sith charged before Quill could politely correct his misconception. He set his stance deep and solid, and caught the all-metal spear in a low guard. Its sheer momentum jolted him toward the edge of the canal, but he kept his balance.

The gilded armor had flamboyant, overlapping shoulder protection. He could probably have fit his hand in between the layered plates and poked the underlay. Instead he grabbed the haft of the spear with his left hand, briefly snaring it between them, and did his best to jam the point of his saber into Imperius' left shoulder. It might get through, it might not.

 

[Imperius]

Jend-Ro Quill
Hmm. The Jedi was trying to get through his armour. Once again, the misconception that his lightsaber was a simple spear was afoot.
Even as an idea came to mind, Imperius’s face lit up with the cruelest of smiles.
He flicked the tiny, hidden switch even as he pulled his own spear towards himself, in what might have seemed to be a deadly mistake to the jedi but was really a manoeuvre to cause the jedi, still trying to push against his spear, to lose hisbalance and overextend. The jedi was experienced- even as he stumbled forwards, he regained his balance rather quickly-but the split-second was all that imperius needed to plant a kick to his opponent’s face, as well as create some distance while reigniting his lightsaber.

 

[Jend-Ro Quill]

Imperius

Quill's saber glanced off the overlapping plates, scattering droplets of molten gold, as Darth Imperius yanked on the spear. Rather than yank back or get pulled, Quill just let go and took half a step back. The bigger man's heavily-armored foot swung high. High kicks telegraphed themselves at the best of times, more do with that much extra mass involved. Quill's backstep gave him room to lean back a hair farther and let the gilded phrik boot scoot past his face.

The Sith created some distance too. Quill grunted as the double spearhead turned out to conceal a lightsaber blade. The Sith had just extended his already significant reach advantage.

Another step back put Quill at the edge of the long weapon's range. He gestured.

Far behind the Sith, the stormtrooper Kenneth, who was urging the captive children toward the shuttle, fell over like she'd been clotheslined by a Huttball linebacker.

 

[Imperius]

Jend-Ro Quill
“Ahh, Master Jedi, you really do represent the most idiotic parts of the jedi philosophy. Did you perhaps think that this would allow them to escape? Perhaps you would be their res-cue-er. Alas, you have failed.” He directed the Jedi’s vision towards the kids, who had all also been knocked out by a near-simultaneous gesture by Imperius.
Then, he proceeded with his offensive. He made slashing motions with his spear, even as liberal yet unpredictable attacks of force-lightning were thrown into the mix. The vibroblade that Officer kenneth carried was also pulled towards himself, just the right speed for the jedi to be wounded, or if by some miracle he did indeed avoid that fate, Imperius could catch the blade, allowing it to supplement Imperius’s weaponry, just in case the course of the duel called for it.

 

[Jend-Ro Quill]

Imperius

Quill wasn't a talker, as a rule, and least of all during a duel. The whole time the Sith was trying to Dun his Möch, Quill focused on the Force, drew deep for insight. Stress bled away.

When the Sith finally lunged in, Quill met both spear and lightning with deft flicks of his saber interspersed with momentary but committed blocks as needed. And he needed them: the spear had plenty of momentum, and the sizzling Force attacks shoved against his guard. If Imperius studied the old Forms, he'd recognize Niman, the blending of the first five: preferred by healers and diplomats, but also by the great Exar Kun.

His saber caught the flying vibroblade and sliced it apart. A glowing shard slid through his robes right across the chest, a shallow but painful cut. To heal it he'd need a little time and space. He gestured, a sideways Force push aiming to shove Imperius into the canal.

 

[Imperius]

Imperius's spear was the perfect weapon for him- incredible versatility, strength and a few hidden aces.
So when the Jedi showed his desperation and resorted to a force push to create distance, Imperius was prepared and stabbed his spear into the ground in order to stay put.

The Jedi, seeing Imperius's spear, clearly expected him to prefer mid-range combat. Ever Unpredictable, Imperius charged in with all the strength that he could muster and unleashed the dark aura that he had spent weeks mastering, catching the Jedi in it's sphere
Jend-Ro Quill

 

[Jend-Ro Quill]

Imperius

Healing the cut across his chest would have to wait, it seemed. Imperius held his ground and charged. A sphere of undifferentiated dark energy swelled out from him and smashed Quill off his feet.

Hair and robes smoking, Quill skidded down the walkway. He groaned and scrambled up, saber snapping on again. The blade's blue glow comforted him, but it might be a false comfort. Jedi fell in battle every day.

No, if he was going to prevail here, he needed to be intentional, uncompromising. He had no need or desire to kill, but he did need to conclusively put the Sith down.

"Time to wake up," he mumbled to himself.

Bending probability was an odd and obscure trick, but one with all kinds of combat implications. It just happened that the permacrete walkway yielded under Imperius' foot, a bit of bad maintenance that could put the charging Sith Lord flat on his gilded face.

 

[Imperius]

Jend-Ro Quill



Imperius knew himself quite well, and knew his propensity to charge head first into unfavorable situations. So when his charge had been interrupted by the weak walkway and he stumbled, he knew what was going to happen; the Jedi would capitalize on this slip-up and he, Imperius, would at the very least be severely injured. Perhaps it was time to reveal his Trump card?
No, he would first see how this went. Even as he slipped, Imperius brought up his spear and once again use dark aura in a bid to stop attacks from the Jedi.

 

[Jend-Ro Quill]

As Imperius stumbled, Quill sent a quick Force push his way, but it dissipated against the preemptive aura that the Sith threw up.

Quill hesitated to attack a fallen man in a serious way, but the opportunity begged to be used. Rather than strike, he dug deep and employed well-honed healing principles. The cut across his chest closed up for the most part. He could go forward with a clearer head, fewer distractions, and nearly all his blood right where it was supposed to be.

The healing took all the time he'd bought, every split second of it. He kept his saber up warily. Didn't say a word.

 

[Imperius]

Imperius decided that he could not allow this duel to last too long. The Jedi’s ability was a passive one, amd this would only make it more and more dangerous as time went on.
Onwards he pressed. A force choke was employed even as Imperius mad rapid thrust with his spear to reduce Jend-Ro Quill ‘s movement.
at the same time, he employed his Trump Card-
and a second spear-wielding Imperius took a stab at the Jedi’s back, along with a dark aura to protect himself.
This was the reason Imperius was always so confident, always felt invincible.
His enemies always fought the Sith phantasm, whereas he waited in the shadows, ready to pounce whenever the enemy was exposed.
However, he could not allow the Jedi to retain his memories of this ability. Once he had been driven into the ground, perhaps the use of his skill at Memory Rubs was in order.

 

[Jend-Ro Quill]

Imperius
The choke was a classic for a reason. Quill found his breath cut off. He reached out to the Force to counter, but found instinct suggesting a different path. The partial counter he used kept his airway open, but also let the choke freeze him in place. For a critical moment he couldn't go up, down, or to the side.

He could, however, spin.

The Force whispered and the lightsaber of Kelos Windspeaker slid out of his left sleeve. The oracular relic's blade snapped to life, a blue-green as vibrant as Quill's own blade looked washed out.

Two lightsaber spears were coming in fast, one from the front, one from the back. Quill had no idea who was the real Imperius and didn't care. He spun, and each of his sabers snagged one complex spearhead, guided it around him-

-spearshafts slid against his robes-

-and let each spearhead and its long saber blade pass on to threaten the opposite Imperius.

Blind, half-accidental strikes like that almost certainly wouldn't find a gap in the gilded phrik armor. They were a moment's distraction and little more.

Force Light flared around him, eroding the dark aura...as well as whichever of the Sith Lords was a tangible phantom.

If neither, if there really were two of them, things were about to get unpleasant.

 

[Imperius]

Imperius witnessed the jedi’s attempts to erode away the Phantasm. Unfortunately for the light sider, however, this was no spontaneous doppelgänger born from his thoughts; this was a ritual-made phantasm, and nothing short of extremely fatal wounds would take him out. At the same time, however, this duel would certainly call for a replacement phantasm to be created.

The jedi had eliminated Imperius’s advantage of surprise, but he was still out numbered. And so Imperius and his Phantasm came to the same conclusion; a single rapid spear thrust to threaten the jedi each, and force lightning in different directions to prevent retreat; the only option left for the jedi would be an airborne retreat, leaving the light-sider with a fixed and predictable movement arc.

Jend-Ro Quill

 

[Jend-Ro Quill]

Imperius

Quill didn't need to fully dispel the phantom; all he really needed to do was repel it for a moment and mark it as the fake. Force Light would erode any Dark Side construct to one extent or another, and the signs were unmistakable.

A moment before his sabers deflected the simple spear moves by a slim margin, the blunted Force choke vanished from his neck, giving him freedom of movement. A fence of lightning - half real, half phantom - flared around him and ran into...

Well, nothing complex. Just Quill and the Force.

The lightning sank into him, scorched his hair, skin, robes. He took a deep, shuddering breath and, for the first time, went on the offensive. He'd made a career out of not matching Sith Lords for the scale of their powers, not if he could avoid it. But sometimes the Force whispered that it was alright to let himself off the leash. Just a bit.

The Windspeaker saber flickered to his belt. The lightning he'd gathered sprayed out behind him from his empty left hand to force the phantom doppelganger back. His focus centred on the real Imperius.

He lunged. His blue saber flicked out with deceptive force, aiming to shove the spear point out of line and let him charge in close. His empty hand came around and sprayed the last of the trapped lightning at the taller man's legs.

 

[Imperius]

Now, Imperius could justify his choice of Solarion to anyone who questioned why he used a spear.
Even as the jedi threw some of the force lightning at Imperius’s legs, He twisted Solarion into a Vertical hold, quickly stopping that avenue of the Jedi’s attack. Simultaneously, Imperius started to retreat back towards the place where Officer Kenneth and the other children had fallen unconscious, without taking his eyes off the jedi and spear held in a defensive stance; the dark side of the force was ready to counter whatever the jedi did.
Using his HUD, he also ordered the droid controlling the shuttle to bring the shuttle to the place where the children and officer Kenneth had fallen and begin dragging them into the schedule.
At the same time, Imperius’s Phantasm saw an opportunity and grabbed it with both hands. The Jedi, being a light-sider, was certainly at his most vulnerable when he was on the offensive. The Phantasm charged, rapidly slashing away at the Jedi’s exposed back and simultaneously threw some force lightning at the Jedi’s feet to restrict his movement and allow the real Imperius to get to the shuttle.

Jend-Ro Quill

 

[Jend-Ro Quill]

Imperius

Quill kept moving forward and leaped in the process, a quick tightly-tucked flip that let the lightning ground itself harmlessly beneath him. Mid-flip, his saber snagged the tip of the phantom's spearblade and warded it away for a vital half-second as he gained ground.

His boots hit the walkway in a sprint. Imperius' phantom was a carbon copy of its maker by design, right down to a truly gigantic suit of armor. Quill, by contrast, was wearing just a Jedi-ish shirt and pants since he'd discarded his outer robe. For the moment, he stayed well ahead of the phantom and refused to let Imperius' fighting retreat create much distance.

He went low. His saber caught the real Imperius' spear and slid, keeping the point away from Quill.

The Kelos Windspeaker saber flicked to his off hand and ignited again, a trakata strike aimed at a gap between overlapping plates on Imperius' right leg.

 

[Imperius]

Imperius twisted Solarion from its vertical position, changing the direction of the Jedi’s strike, causing it to uselessly clang against the Sith Lord’s chest plate. Even as he warded off the the strike, Imperius twisted his spear , trying to bisect the Jedi’s chest in an attempt to incapacitate the jedi. At the same time, He was informed that the droid had collected the designated individuals, and Imperius ordered it to fly away to its pre-designated destination- the Sith Lord would have to find another way to return to the capital. Finally, Imperius was free. He let loose, mustering the force and stomped, shaking the ground and causing cracks to run through it for entire blocks.