1st GBA Tourney - Garrus Garon vs Triam Akovin

[Eralam]

Outside the ice cave, a storm howls.

Inside, the air is frigid, but a fire blazing in the middle provides some warmth and light for our fighters.

The cave is roughly rectangular, 5 meters wide and 20 meters long. The tight space will make it difficult to maneuver. Additionally, the floor is slick, covered with a thin layer of ice and snow blown in from the storm. No matter what happens, the fire must stay lit. If it goes out, both fighters can expect to freeze to death in five posts.

[member="Garrus Garon"]
[member="Triam Akovin"]

 

[Cassus Akovin]

This was certainly an unusual situation.

Triam Akovin couldn't say exactly where she was in the galaxy, but she didn't exactly have a choice in being down here in this unrelenting cold, searching for warmth. Her ship had crashed and burned somewhere off a few kilos away, her escape pod escape saving her in the nick of time.

Her footprints lead far away from where her little pod landed, she had been sitting in it for an hour now, before its thermal regulator kicked the bucket. She had been trying to send a signal up to her secondary ship in the hopes of getting a pick up after her scuffle in space... but the storm drowned out her signals completely.

She saw a light off in the distance, an opening on one of the cliff faces. Relying on her suits thermal regulator, she walked through the cold snow, pounded by the swirling winds of ice. Ordinarily, she would jetpack over there in giant bounding leaps... but the winds were too extreme for that sort of behavior. Her thermal vision was locked on to that distant flame, and she didn't stop trudging in spite of the dropping temperature.

She was at the foot of the cliff now, headed for the lip of the cave.

[member="Garrus Garon"]

Spoiler: Equipment

I. Assault. U. II Armor - Left Arm Dart Shooters, Right Arm M.E.A.D. Glove, Knees with "Wrist Blasters".
Spark Implant - Second Wind Node
The Akovin Hand - Gatebreaker Node
C.H.I.T. Darts
H.E.R.D. Laser
The Relentless Blade
Crappy Republic Blaster Rifle
Crappy Republic Blaster Pistols (x2)

 

[Garrus Garon]

...whether he'd lit the fire himself or had simply happened upon it by chance no one could have said however Garrus Garon was already inside the cave and out of the frigid, cold weather that plagued this world. The Mandalorian was stranded on this world after his own starship had run into trouble and he'd been forced to make an emergency landing on the world that saw his transportation damaged beyond his ability to repair which meant he wasn't getting off-world anytime soon. Before he'd departed the ship he'd managed to send a distress signal to Mandalorian space with his coordinates ensuring that help would come for him however it would take time for them to locate his position which meant he needed to stay alive until then hence the cave and the fire and the rest of it...

...Garrus had sequestered himself inside the cave, back to the wall so that he could face the entrance and ensure that no one would surprise him. The Mandalorian was dressed in his Heavy Beskar'gam, a large and intimidating piece of armor that offered immense amounts of protection and have been amplified by several enhancements such as the Micro-Grenade Launcher located on the left forearm of the armor. Other enhancements weren't so obvious until activated. A Beskad was sheathed over Garrus back with the hilt extending up over his left shoulder where it remained ready to be taken and pulled free. Aside from this the Warrior had an assortment of -three- grenades on the utility belt of his armor, their differing appearance seeming to indicate each had a different purpose and an ML-1 -Roughcut- Shotgun. The Shotgun was a basic slugthrower for the most part, eight shot capacity and designed to chew through a variety of opposing targets...

...he was crouched down, close to the fire with the shotgun held in his right hand resting horizontally across his thighs making him a smaller target save for the obvious broadness of his shoulders and natural size. Enhanced optics in his helm could switch back between things low light, infrared and ultraviolet vision or just naturally allow him to see normally whichever was most advantageous. Truly Garrus didn't expect any company because from what he'd learned this planet was a virtual block of ice that was the definition of lifeless but then he hadn't had the means nor the inclination to explore beyond finding this cave and waiting out the weather inside of it. Needed to keep the fire burning as well, that seemed pretty important to him...​

​

[member="Triam Akovin"]

Equipment

Spoiler

Heavy Beskar'gam w/ integrated equipment

Spoiler

Beskad
Assorted Grenades x3
ML-1 Roughcut Shotgun

 

[Cassus Akovin]

As she climbed upwards of the cliff face, she arrived at the cave, seeing the illuminated shadow of another figure within it on the side wall. The howling winds enveloped her form in frost and snow, yet she felt neither too deeply. [member="Draco"] Vareen was a very intelligent man when it came to armor.

When finally her helmet poked up over the cave, followed by her arms, pulling her upwards, she saw the man sitting by the fire with all of his weapons. Having had friendly experiences with them in the past, she was glad to have found a Mandalorian. Although 'friendly' was sort of stretching it. She knew Preliat Mantis, and their relationship had been... a strained one.

On at least one occasion though she had been rescued by the Mandalorians and she had assisted them on one of their operations. She had, however, incidentally worked under a contract for the CIS on Geonosis... but that had been years ago by now. Only Preliat would know that information.

Given that she wasn't a nut bent on killing the first person she meets over a dinky fire she might not need, she decided to be amicable when finally she stood up.

"Mind if I sit down with you?"

[member="Garrus Garon"]

 

[Garrus Garon]

...nothing lived on this world, it was cold and dead, the winds howling outside of the cave ensured that Garrus was never aware another individual was approaching until he saw the head pop over the horizon as it were followed by arms as an unfamiliar body pulled itself up and over looking to take soem refuge from the snowstorm outside. Instantly Garrus was tense, shifting however he used the natural camouflage provided by the licking tongues of the fire and the distance between them to conceal his extremely minor movements as he watched carefully...

...it wasn't that Garrus didn't care to share his fire with [member="Triam Akovin"] it was that he was naturally suspicious, even more so after this second figure had appeared following his discovery of the cave and his own crashing landing onto the world. A lot of old soldiers suffered from some form of paranoia or another. When Garrus saw the figure, snow covered and heard them ask to share his fire he'd have replied..."Sure."...from beneath the cover of his helm just to lure them into that false sense of security and waited as they finally stood up and gave the Mandalorian a closer look...

...his left hand had slid across the utility belt located at the waist of his beskar'gam when he'd figure seen her and he'd shift until Garrus had placed his hand around one of the grenades found there. The Warrior wasn't completely mad, he'd try to incapacitate rather than kill to begin with which is why...

...after Garrus had told her it was no bother if she sat with him he left arm would whip outwards, a small rectangular looking object flailing out from his hold after it was unhooked from his belt and tossed in her direction. The Sonic Detonator wasn't deadly in most instances. It would -pop- and emit a horrible squealing sound that went on for a prolonged period of time capable of stunning and disorientating those in the blast radius of ten meters that weren't properly protected. Sometimes the eardrums would literally be blown apart. The Helm Garrus was wearing was equipped with sound dampeners ensuring that detonator would be annoying at most...

...the sonic detonator wasn't the end all for Garrus though. After throwing the grenade, which the Mandalorian hoped would serve as a base distraction if nothing else, Garrus literally rose from his crouched position and tucked the Roughcut Shotgun against his right hip to assist in bracing it. The Shotgun would fire then, aimed at the center mass of Triam, belching out a cloud of durasteel pellets that widened the further from the epicenter they were fired from. The Mandalorian had aimed for Triam's center mass, the largest mass on most humanoids, hoping to catch her in the cloud of pellets. He'd pump the shotgun and fire a second time as well if he could...​

 

[Cassus Akovin]

To say the least, each development that seemed to come her way had been unusual and unexpected. Sure, it might be coincidence that they both crashed landed on a lifeless ice ball relatively around the same time due to some scuffle in space, but when you see a cave and you see a fire you go there expecting reprieve from the cold.

Not an annoying sonic charge and pellet shot to the body.

Giver her modified Arbiter Combat Helmet, she had no worry of bursting eardrums or the like, though the charge did offer a surprise as any sudden attack would. Having so much focus on getting a break from walking, she hardly noticed the odd tensed up posture of the Mandalorian, who prepared to unleash his attack.

The sonic bursting though worked not as the Mandalorian intended given her protections, and offered her a warning, rather than a distraction. Immediately anticipating the following attack, she had not time to hastily retaliate, though had enough time for her Paragon Shield system to activate with both molecular and particle shielding. After all, she didn't know the nature of the attack right away, and activating one over the other would be extremely dangerous. She had no information after all, and it was always best to assume a generalist strategy until one could hone in on the makeup of an opponent's strategy.

The shield offered some protection, but a few of the shells made it through, embedding themselves into her ultrachrome armor. The kinetic protections of her armor though prevented no more damage than what was purely cosmetic, which would no longer exist in several hours once the resealant healed the armor's "wounds". Nonetheless, she grunted under the impacts.

Her left hand immediately reached across for the cylinder in her belt, while her right arm extended out. Three very familiar cables shot out from her fingers towards the Mandalorian, charged with electricity. It was likely a moot point, since most Mandalorian armors these days were farraday cages given their frequent incursions with the Sith and those of the dark side. Nonetheless, it was a habit to zap first and figure crap out later. The real purpose of the cables though weren't to necessarily incapacitate, but were primarily being used to pull the man over to her, in a wordlessly yelled, "Get over here!".

Her arm pulled back just as her left hand pulled out and activated a thread-thin blade of silvery-yellow. The flickering blade of ionic energy had the specific capability of ignoring most all shields and armor (those not specifically protected from ion-damage) in order to numb limbs it passed through, and paralyze them for hours after repeated blows. If it passed through the upper spinal column or the head, it often rendered the target unconscious for hours. With its Tràkata switch activated, The Relentless blad would swipe it through his body diagonally as she pulled him towards her.

This was a close quarters fight, and she wasn't going to fool around with guns when she could end it here and now.

[member="Garrus Garon"]

 

[Garrus Garon]

...perhaps she had extended her arm towards Garrus after the initial pump of his shotgun, maybe while he was in the midst of pumping it the second time but regardless as Triam raised her right arm to extend it outwards the Mandalorian would act rather than remain a station target, a sitting duck as it were. Using his left leg he would propel himself to the right, the left of Triam, diving into a shoulder roll essentially while her arm outstretched and the cables shot out towards him. It happened fast, almost instinctively however Garrus was a large target so it may not have happened quite fast enough and as he come up out of the roll onto his right knee Garrus would feel a jolt of pain coursing through his body which caused him to jerk and react violently...

...the electricity would cause the muscles in his left side, particularly over the left shoulder plate where the cord had struck to tighten in response as the electrical current whipped up and down throughout his body. In response Garrus would twist at the waist, drawing his left side backwards and bringing his right shoulder ahead so that he could pull himself away from the cable in a quick reaction that left him feeling numbed nonetheless. That said down on one knee Garrus was planted and jerking his left side backwards would put him in direct opposition of Triam who was attempting to pull Garrus towards her. Initially the fire had existed between the two of them and Garrus was happy to keep it as such. The Mandalorian was also heavy, especially in his Beskar'gam which meant that unless Triam was strong, very strong, it would probably be hard for her to uproot him especially now that he'd lowered his center of gravity again following the sideways roll...

...all in all it would keep him satisfyingly out of melee range until he was ready to engage on his own terms which meant that the Ion charged blade probably wouldn't be able to reach him...

...Garrus had drawn his left side/shoulder backwards when he'd twist at the waist, jerking that side away from the cable that had struck him. His arm was numbed, weakened, despite his troubles but with a heft growl..."RAAAAAAAAA!!!"...he'd bring his left side fore again and thrust his arm forward. As he did this the Micro-Grenade Launcher integrated into the left forearm of his armor would swing ahead and deploy one, two grenades. Neither was fired with any true finesse or accuracy however there was relatively little cover in the cave which meant Garrus wasn't overly concerned. One of the grenades would lob somewhere in the direction of Triam where it would explode, showering the area not only in a concussion blast but also shrapnel. A Fragmentation Grenade. Actually a duo of fragmentation grenades seeing as how the micro launcher could only have one load out at any specific time. As for the secondary grenade it arced higher where it would explode closer to the ceiling of the cave with much the same effect as the first only at a different but equally deadly angle...

...the Beskar'gam would protect Garrus from a majority of the damage, he was also further from kill zone as it were but regardless if everything went completely as planned he'd still be rocked backwards. Thrown away, further into the cave and deeper away from the fire with at least a few pieces of rigid shrapnel embedded into the chest plate of his armor...​

​

[member="Triam Akovin"]

 

[Cassus Akovin]

Triam's arm pulled back retracting her Phantom Fingers after the Mandalorian tugged free from their clutches. If she weren't so in the moment, she might have been surprised by the strange effectiveness of her electrical attack. This would be exploited at a time more advantageous.

In the meantime, she had to deal with two consecutive concussive waves.

Not having much time to react in such a confined space, when the projectiles were launched she charged forward towards her adversary before they both detonated. Luckily her activated shield from earlier was able to stop the majority of lethal fragments from reaching her, and whatever got through either bounced or imbedded itself into her armor; once again, the damage was mostly cosmetic for now. To her armor at least.

Her armor was good, but it wasn't good enough to completely protect one from everything. Although it could absorb some kinetic energy (usually from projectiles), there were really few things that could stop a concussive wave from throwing you off your feet and jostling you from the inside out. It wasn't the explosion that killed people, it was the concentrated wave of atmosphere and shrapnel.

Triam flew to her belly, her saber deactivating as she hit the ground, and she and the saber started to slide. Rubble fell from the cave ceiling and the fire was nearly snuffed out from the blast. Although a bit jarred, she had no time to lay around, so she moved into action immediately. Besides, she had her saber to catch.

She rolled to one side, and fired tazer darts from the two launchers on her left wrist. The rapid fire succession of darts flew out quickly, whenever one left the barrel, another was already being launched. In total, ten darts would be flying towards the Mandalorian while she scrambled to her feet to try and regain her melee weapon, on the slick terrain.

[member="Garrus Garon"]

 

[Eralam]

As per PM, [member="Garrus Garon"] forfeits due to real life constraints.

[member="Triam Akovin"] will advance to the final round.

Overall this was a decent fight. Both of you did well in adapting to the unusual circumstances, and that was a big part of what I was looking for. Sometimes duels will place you in wide open spaces. Other times, they'll shove you in narrow corridors, or collapsing buildings, or any one of a number of awkward spots. Since the whole purpose behind the GBA is to hone one's skills in a place where you can go all out without affecting the characters' canon timeline, arenas like this can be useful if both parties are willing to make full use of it, and I think both of you did well there.

I do have a couple of pieces of advice for both of you.

Garrus:

• Your choice in formatting makes it a little difficult to pick details out at a glance. There's nothing wrong with trying to go for a unique look within your posts, but maybe break up your paragraphs a bit more? Just a suggestion. It didn't seem to have a negative impact here, but it's food for thought.
• Using the grenades to get away from Triam's electric attack was clever, but keep in mind that, in an enclosed space like that, shockwaves propagate differently than they would in an open environment. There's a very real chance you would have popped both your lungs and hers, even with the armor, and the fire was almost assuredly out at this point.

Triam:

• I'm looking forward to seeing you in the final bout with Vrag. The two of your are both heavily reliant on armor and gadgets, and the contrast between Vong and machine tech will make for an interesting fight.
• If I had one criticism, it's that the timing on your opening attack seemed a little fuzzy. Not so much that I couldn't get the gist of what was happening, but enough that Garrus had to make an assumption about when you moved. I'm hesitant to classify that as a mistake, and if it is it's just a small one, but that would be something to look out for in the future. If possible, try to use your opponent's motions as a reference point for your own. Makes it easier for both of you to stay on the same page.

Again, great job, both of you. Garrus, you are always welcome to come back and fight in the GBA some more when time permits. Triam, congratulations, and I'll see you in the finals.