To feel alive ... one last time

[Vascious Relens]

Vascious stepped out from the shade of the tree that partially concealed the Morossian military dropship behind him. He watched another ship approach the nearby surface of Morje as he placed his hands behind his back.

Morje was simply just another planet that had been under the Horde's control. There was nothing extraordinary about it at all. Still the the Crusade had been extra vigilant in wiping the rival religion off of the face of the galaxy. In time the crusaders would also land here to cleanse it. For now the planet served perfectly as a place for Vascious to momentarily escape the eyes of the Moross masses as it was outside of Crusade borders. The horde forces that remained were thin enough that he was able to avoid detection for the time being. Of course collateral damage to the enemy was never a concern. This planet wasn't particularly exciting, but it had been chosen methodically.

The approaching ship no doubt contained [SIZE=14.4444446563721px][member="Soliael Devin Talith"][/SIZE]. Vascious had summoned the fellow god to challenge him. That is why their devout followers could not see. Gods should never fight gods, lest they shake the foundation of their own follower's faith.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Vascious Relens"]

The Shuttle set down without much hesitation.

Morje had never been a densely populated planet, and now that any form of centralized government was gone it was easy enough for a ship or two to slip past the meager defenses of the planet. Soliael wasn't quite sure why his Uncle Vascious had called him here, the man had said something about a fight and the testing of mettle, but the False God was half sure that he had been kidding.

Or he hoped so.

If Vascious intended to fight him, it would either be a test, or he had done something the old man disapproved of.

In the back of his head he hoped it was not the latter. Vascious was one of the few people in the galaxy that Soliael not only respected as an Elder, but looked up to. That was a rare thing thing for him.

Very rare.

He made his way off the ship almost as soon as it landed, stomping out onto Morje without a care for anyone seeing him. He wore no mask or armor, no decoration, only a simple bodysuit and a coat that hung heavily on his shoulders, the two phrik gloves on his hands. “Uncle?”

He called out, not bothering to find the man.

 

[Vascious Relens]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

"Over here Soliael," came the shout of the older Mandalorian in the distance. It took a few moments, but soon Vascious had walked close enough for casual conversation to be had.

Unlike Sol, who dressed lightly, Relens wore the same unique signature plate armor that he was almost never seen without. Only now it had several charred marks and his black cloak seemed to be half missing from the battle on Yuuzhan'tar. Then again he had always seemed to value the characteristics of dings and burns over the appearance of new fresh armor.

"Soon I will step down for Amore to return to her rightful place by your side. You see when I awoke I found that the plague had wiped all of my achievements off of the face of the galaxy. What point is there in living if everything is meaningless? However, through my niece Silencia, I was able to find purpose again with you and Amorella. My time here hadn't been a complete waste after all. Hell you've even exceeded my legacy, and i'm damned proud. It's time for me to step aside"

Vascious paused for a moment as he eyed his fellow Aesir. Soliael was far from young or weak when Vascious had first met him, but now it wouldn't have been foolish to assume the man to be one of the top handful of masters in the entire galaxy. The climb to the top had taken significant tolls on his body though. The Mandalorian could see that plain enough without close examination.

"Age is finally starting to get to me, nephew. I can't remember half of the things I planned, and I just can't move like I used to." The false god looked down at the singed strands of his badly damaged cloak and simply chuckled.

"Show me what you have Soliael. Make me feel alive one last time, and i'll impart to you the greatest lesson that I still remember."

He tossed a packaged to Talith then. Inside rested two training lightsabers. Of course, Vascious hadn't been aware that Sol had developed a new unique style involving phrik gloves.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Vascious Relens"]

Soliael caught the package, his hands closing around it and feeling the contents. He frowned slightly, not quite understanding what his uncle was getting at.

The man was ancient, far more so than Soliael. His own mother considered the man an elder, and she called few such things. Yet now he was talking as though he were at the end of his life, as if the lat remaining years he had in this galaxy were fleeting. His hands wrung around the saber hilts, pulling part the packaging of the box. He smiled down at the sabers, slowly coming to terms with what his Uncle was telling him.

It was a test.

A simple test.

Soliael stretched himself to his full height. A few muscles stretched, and his neck cracked as it was extended slightly. He seemed to raise himself up, flexing every muscle in his body in preparation of movement. Eyes narrowing, he looked down at the training sabers. “I won't be needing this.”

With a lackluster leisure he threw the two weapons away from him, letting them land in a small alcove made by tree roots.

Perhaps he would retrieve them later.

“Come Uncle.” His feet shifted, his body tensed, and his face grew stern. “Let us make you feel alive.”

This was rare for Soliae. Fights for him were rarely an event, to him they were simplicity. He snapped his fingers and the force did as he commanded. He willed something, and it occurred. His battles were not true fights, but this would be. For the man he respected, he would fight like a true champion.

His hand jerked, and the ground beneath Vascious exploded with a wave of the force.

 

[Vascious Relens]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

Vascious watched as Soliael stretched and prepared himself. The Mandalorian raised his eyebrows from behind his helmet as his nephew tossed the training sabers off to the side. Admittedly he hadn't done any prior research on if the other Aesir had changed his fighting style. It didn't seem prudent at the time since Vascious didn't intend to kill the man, but rather to simply observe what kind of Sith he had become. A hidden smile curled his lips as interest set in. What was Neth up to?

The old man had no such qualms about light saber usage. He pulled two more training sabers from clips on his hips and thumbed the generic red blades to life. His normal white bladed sabers remained hidden on his back where they always were until used.

Finally Vascious' own feet and stance shifted in mimicry across from his opponent. He had only a second to observe Soliael before the younger man jerked his hand.

Every muscle switched to impulse. The false god dove sideways upon feeling the force being directed at the ground beneath him. He nimbly rolled off of his shoulders and onto his feet like a much younger man. In the same fluid motion his arm flew up and an arc of energy shot forward in a horizontal cross sweeping motion to catch Solaiel if he didn't block, dive, or jump over it.

It was no secret that lightning was Vascious' specialty. This particular sweeping bolt of energy had a level of precision impossible for most sith, but the power of it wasn't particularly impressive. Then again it was cast from a few of the man's fingertips just after mid roll.

Of course the lightning was never meant to hurt Soliael. Instead it was simply a quick hindrance to throw him off of his game just for a fraction of a moment. It didn't matter how Neth chose to block or dodge the attack. Vascious leaped forward with the assistance of the force under the cover of that distraction. It was an impossible speed for a man of his size without the force, and just enough to close the distance so that a generic red blade was leveled for Sol's chest.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Vascious Relens"]

The lightning slammed into Soliaels palm. It sparked and pounced, then dissipated into nothing. Had the strike been a bit more powerful and slightly more precise the Sith Lord likely would've had to pull out something more effective to stop it.

The effort to buy himself time however had worked for Vascious, and in an instant the large man had closed the distance.

Soliael snapped up his right hand, a bright red shield sliced through the air, emanating from the emitter in his gauntlet. Soliael caught his uncles lightsaber upon the energy buckler, holding in place with a cold calculated gaze. Before his Uncle could his other other weapon Soliael swept forward.

The Sith directed a kick towards Vascious' legs, hoping to sweep them from beneath him.

At the same time his other hand came from below with an open palm sending a massive push of the force into Vascious.

 

[Vascious Relens]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]


The energy buckler was sufficient in stopping the red blade in its tracks, and Soliael was fast enough to move in with a sweeping kick before the older man could react with his second weapon. However, Relens' footing wasn't so easily broken. His uncle's legs were considerably strong and he was able to rapidly adapt his stance to repel the kick. Unfortunately he wasn't so lucky with Sol's follow up force push.

Vascious was only fast enough to just mitigate the push's effects so that he was sent back 10 feet rather than tumbling backwards some 20 or 30 feet had Sol's kick been successful. He also managed to maintain his footing again, though he did have to shuffle several steps and nearly lost his balance in the process.

[SIZE=14.4444446563721px]It was now clear why Soliael tossed his blades aside. Did he think to fight the mandalorian with his fists? Oh if only he could see the smile on the old man's face. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.4444446563721px]A chuckle could be heard as he disabled and tossed his own training sabers aside. Vascious was no blade master. He was simply deadly with a saber because most Sith and Jedi were so foolishly attached to their forms that they became overly predictable. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.4444446563721px]The battered beskar gauntlets came up as Vascious entered a hand to hand combat stance. One of his hands then curled inward a couple times [/SIZE]gesturing Neth to give it his best shot. [SIZE=14.4444446563721px] [/SIZE]

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Vascious Relens"]

Poor Uncle, thought he would use his hands.

Of course the gauntlets were there as a line of protection against lightsabers and blasters, but they weren't Soliaels primary means of attack, far from it, they were more like a last line of defense. Something that Soliael kept only because he had experienced defeat once before, and that was at the hands of Kira.

He smiled, then moved. His fingers game up and snapped, the sound of metal clashing against metal ringing out within the clearing. Immediately black specs floated across his eyes, his visioned darkened for a moment, and then a surge of power came from his palm.

Like a push, but far faster and less subtle a red wave pressed form Soliael, it annihilated and destroyed everything in its path, tiny strands of grass and small plants dying instantly as the wave rushed through them.

 

[Vascious Relens]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]


Vascious didn't wait to see what parlor trick his nephew had up his sleeve. As soon as Soliael raised his hand again, it became clear that he was going to continue to play it safe with sorcery. Vascious threw his own hand forward and lightning shot from it before his hand could even get to the full extent of his arm's reach.

This was typically an attack that projected forwards in a myriad of small electrical webs that blanketed an area with no particular intended accuracy. On the other hand, Relens had a degree of control over lightning that was unheard of. It had been his go to power for most of his life. He had an uncanny aptitude for willing the energy to his bidding that developed to the point of almost instinctual application.

In this situation his lightning formed a single massive electrical bolt that shot out for Soliael's chest right as the black flecks of saa traveled through the man's eyes and darkened his field of vision from his abuse of the true power. Lightning casting was almost instant, and the old man didn't hold back on its power this time. It was also pretty convenient that his fellow Aesir had forsaken the one weapon that could have attracted and nullified his attack. Of course Relens wasn't foolish enough to think he'd stop Soliael from activating his power, but he'd wound the man for showing off.

Vascious wasn't overly familiar with the power that wiped out all of the plant life between the two Sith Lords. The instant feeling of dread that irradiated into the area upon it's casting was something he was well equipped to ignore from his years on the dark side of the force. A Jedi might have been overwhelmed by the 'awesome' surge of darkness, but Relens didn't so much as lend a single thought towards it. Instead his already outstretched hand instinctively formed another antiquated technique ... the simple force shield.

Soliael's force blast was impressive. It would have been a finisher move against most force users. Vascious grunted as the red wave battered against his draw on the force and strained his shield much more than he thought it would. The dirt and grass by his feet became crushed under the bubble imprint of his shield as it was pounded into. The grunt morphed into a loud growl as the force blast started to dissipate and Vascious finally broke his own shield with a 360 degree force push in all directions. With his defense now turned into offense, Vascious once more force leapt for Neth to close the gap.

The bear of a man had no problem fighting without lightsabers. He relished at the thought of getting his hands on his opponent.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Vascious Relens"]

Soliael reacted immediately, his own force shield came up as soon as Vascious wave emanated out from him. His however was far more frail. The Barrier was thin, and designed only as a one stop shop. The Wave struck it, and a serene shattering noise rang out as the barrier was broken by its opposing force. The False God grinned, then pushed back one of his legs in preperation.

When Vascious landed near him Soliael was already moving.

One arm dashed out to grab his uncles forearm, the other reached out with a hint of the force, pulling on Vasious leg with an intense jerk. If his grasp on his uncles forearm landed, then Soliael would pull the arm as well, knocking Vascious over and make it easy for Soliael to kick him in the throat, where his armor was vulnerable.

 

[Vascious Relens]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

Vascious didn't attempt to jerk his arm away. Instead he moved into the 'embrace' to grab onto Soliael's arm in return. His entire goal had always been to get close into his nephew's personal space. A grapple went all the more into disabling his opponent's speed and sorcery at range.

Damned if Sol wasn't fast though. The mandalorian was powerless to stop himself from being yanked off of his feet. The aimed kick to the throat didn't end up on target, but it was a moot point since it became an off balance kick to the head with enough force to get another grunt out of him. The impact stopped him from immediately striking back out, but it wasn't enough to daze him yet.

However, Sol's speed would find a strong competitor in Relens' brute strength though. The nearly 300 pound man didn't go down without a fight. He did his best to drag Sol down with him, where he'd proceed to attempt to get the upper position and send his elbow into the man's cheek.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

He saw the elbow coming, likely the only thing that saved him from a fractured skull.

Soliael rolled his face with the strike, the sound of breaking bones resonating as Vascious' elbow crashed into the side of his face. The False God let out an involuntary cry of pain, but that was the only reaction that his Uncle received. The Moment that Vascious crashed onto him, Soliael was already moving again.

His hand came up, pressing against Vascious armor at its very center. The same red wave came from Soliaels palm as it had earlier, albeit this time it was only meant to burn away his uncles armor.

At the same time his left leg came up, hooking behind Vascious' own and hopefully locking the older man into place.

 

[Vascious Relens]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

Two things happened at that moment. A blade ejected from the wrist plating of Vascious' right handed gauntlet. The old man proceeded to slam that blade into the dirt right next to Soliael's head. It was almost as if he was saying 'Checkmate' with this gesture.

Unfortunately he also got hit with Sol's second force blast right at that moment. At point blank range, no Sith alive would have been able to move fast enough to block it. All Vascious could do was to depend on his naturally built up defenses to dark force energy.

Vascious coughed and then fell to the side of Soliael a moment later. He rolled onto his back and simply laughed whole heartily as if the situation was hilarious. The blast failed to melt the plates of his armor, though it did destroy a good majority of his armor's under-mesh suit. Embers flickered from charred metal and cloth, and the air smelt of burnt flesh. He was still alive though. Why hadn't it killed him? His nephew must have held back since the first blast wouldn't have been so forgiving at point blank range.

Perhaps it had been an error to bring a Sith Master down for a brutal ground and pound attack. Did a kill mean as much if you had to sacrifice your own life in the process? It was an idle thought as he already knew the answer.

It simply depended on the quality of one's opponent.