Aya vs Galen

[Eralam]

Our fighters find themselves at the legendary Madalorian drinking hall, the Oyu'baat. The crowd of cheering Mandalorians has formed a rough circle around the fighters, roughly fifteen meters across. The crisp autumn air is cool and clear, the ground hard and firm. It's the perfect day for a brawl.

The armed and armored mercenaries love watching a good fight, almost as much as they love getting in a good fight. The combatants have free reign inside the ring to do whatever they want to each other, but they should take care to make sure that their attacks don't spill over to the crowd. After all, if you punch one Mando, you've punched the lot of them, and what follows will be as quick as it is undignified.

In the event that one of the crowd is struck, that fighter will be dogpiled by a great many familiar faces. Stand up to their attacks and the match can continue, though it'll likely be a lot harder after having to pick one's teeth up off the ground.

[member="Aya D'Ordinii"]
[member="Galen"]

 

[Aya D'Ordinii]

*Aya slugged back a shot of tihaar. It had been a long time since she had last been in the 'baat. At some point since that time the bartender had changed. He did look somewhat similar though, so Aya guessed it was either the last bartender's son or grandson. Depending on exactly how long it had been. Turning toward the ring, Aya shrugged out of her usual white cloak. Passing it to one of the watching vode. She knew they would keep it save for her. At some point she had lost track of Adi & the cyborg he had brought with him. Last she had seen, the pair had been blacked out in a booth after losing, massively, to her in a drinking contest. A contest she had continued well after that point. She was starting to get a faint tingle in her fingers. Taking a break from the drinking Aya stepped into the impromptu & small dueling ring, whispering a quite prayer before looking to see who her opponent was.*

-Aya
Ni su'cuyi, gar kyr'adyc, ni partayli, gar darasuum. Eliel.

*As this was a crowded fight, she was only carrying her knives & her father's lightsabre, though she was unlikely to use the later in a venue like this. Of course, if she needed, she did always have her built in weapons as well. Though again, she would rather not use them in such a crowded fight. Her armour & clothing were as they always were (check bio for detailed description of all).*

 

[Galen]

Ordinarily, this was not the type of place Galen would have found himself. It reeked of alcohol, blood, sweat, and vomit, and the noise was abhorrently loud. Unfortunately, the choice of venue had not been left to him, and so here he was, facing what was most likely the deadliest opponent of his life. He wore the same black pants he had previously, and was once again lacking shirt, shoes, or armor beyond his bracers. Unlike most in this place, the thought that she might be organic had never once crossed his mind, as she smelled of flesh barely alive and metal buried beneath, and even a cursory probe with the force revealed the chassis beneath her outer shell for what it was. A closer inspection disclosed the wide array of weaponry built into her frame, in addition to the few that she held.

In short, she was a kill droid, and would out-class him in nearly every physical trait if her creator knew what they were doing, and indeed it appeared that they did. A melee match would be all but impossible to win, and he didn't have the luxury of staying at range, thanks to the gathered crowd. Even if he had, the implanted weapons would still create a significant issue.

If only he'd brought more than just his swords.

A wry smile twisted his lips at the thought, and he stepped through the crowd into the vacated circle. Leaving his weapons sheathed, as he doubted even their force-imbued blades would do much to the opponent before him, he squared his stance toward her and let his hands hang at his sides, waiting for whatever would come next.

[member="Aya D'Ordinii"]

 

[Aya of House Dizen]

Sorry, wrong character.

 

[Aya D'Ordinii]

*Aya was somewhat relieved to see that her opponent was at least considerate enough not to bring indiscriminate weapons to what was going to amount to a one on one bar brawl. On the other hand he looked entirely too comfortable with that sword of his.*

-Aya
Hail friend. How shall we play this out today? Blades, fists, or something less usual?

*True the crowd was looking to watch a fight, but any contest would prove interesting enough if done with enough flair. Maybe they would beat each other to pulps. Maybe they would have a battle of wits or a game of skill.*

[member="Galen"]

 

[Galen]

"I think we both know how useless my fists would be, m'lady."

Had his opponent been a true zabrak, or indeed organic at all, he would have been vastly more willing to agree to non-standard terms, but as things were now, such conditions would likely be suicide.

"I can consent to stay my blades, but beyond that I'm afraid I would become almost entirely impotent, as you likely already know."

He couldn't decide if the offer of a fistfight was meant in jest, or was indeed the trap it first appeared to be. Not unexpectedly, he found it nearly impossible to gauge any sort of emotion from his opponent, and he had very little history to go on.

"Either way, the crowd seems anxious. Shall we begin?"

 

[Aya D'Ordinii]

*The offer had been made in earnest. It would have been fairly easy to pull her punches & 'act up' to his own punches. With an unusual challenge they would likely have been at least closer in terms of skill. But he seemed uninterested. Well it had been worth a try. She would now just have to be extra careful not to blow her cover in front of the crowd. Sliding her hands in a familiar motion, fingers dragging against the insides of her wrists. The motion ended with her pair of punching daggers slipping free from their concealed holsters. Each was only four inches long & two wide on the blade, with the handles styled much like a pair of brass knuckles.*

-Aya
Draw your blade & let's begin then.

[member="Galen"]

 

[Galen]

Even as she spoke, he was already gathering himself and focusing his mind for the duel to come, or more specifically for the preemptive strike he hoped would end this before it could truly begin. He nodded to her words and reached to draw his sword, the motion smooth and fast despite his leisurely pace. Clearly it was something he had done innumerable times before. Rather than readying the weapon, however, he simply held it in his left hand and remained stationary ten meters distant from his opponent.

First, he would need to discover what she was capable of. He knew she would be strong and fast, but was she capable of improvisation? Adapting her programming as needed to counter a truly organic opponent? If she was, this would become a considerably more difficult fight, and the faster he could end it, the better. It was several moments after she finished speaking that he finally readied the sword in front of himself and set his stance, left foot forward and left hand at the top of his two-handed grip, ready for whatever assault she would muster.

[member="Aya D'Ordinii"]

 

[Aya D'Ordinii]

*She would need to close & quickly. The sword had much more reach that her knives did. She was fast enough that if she got inside his guard he wouldn't have a chance. On the other hand, if he landed a solid blow with that beast, it would probably blow her cover as an organic. She would really hate to have to murder everyone in the bar just to keep her secret.*

*Bending her knees & tucking her elbows in tight against her sides, lowers the size of the target she was presenting, while at the same time bringing her knives up into a boxer's stance. Dancing forward, she probes to see how close he would let her get. Ready to shift to either side to keep him from circling away from her, but also watching for a frontal attack. *

[member="Galen"]

 

[Galen]

Hesitation was her first mistake. The last thing she should wish to do was give him more time to prepare, yet that was exactly what she was doing, and he did not allow her gift to go to waste. He remained where he was, simply presenting his readied blade to keep her cautious as his focus was diverted to the offense. Reaching out with his mind, he would focus his power around her neck, working to seize it in an invisible iron grip and raise her fully off the ground. Thus far, she seemed loathe to display her truly inhuman characteristics, and he was curious to see how far that extended. Lifted from the ground, dangling helplessly for all the bystanders to see, would she then choose to reveal herself or continue to present her facade? Though in truth, all this depended on her reaction to his initial actions and whether he could establish a solid grip in the first place.

[member="Aya D'Ordinii"]

 

[Aya D'Ordinii]

*Aya felt the tightening around her throat. Great another force user. Halting her advance for the moment, she dives into a roll to the left, both trying to break his hold by moving & reach the edge of the crowd in the same motion. The Force Choke itself wouldn't harm her. At least not unless he could cut through metal with it. He could be trying to lift her into the air however, a tactic that would extremely limit her possible reactions. At the end of her roll & adjacent to the edge of the watching crowd, One foot snaps out in a lateral kick, sweeping a metal tankard from the hand of the surprised spectator & toward her opponent. She was aiming for it to hit his forehead, but even she wasn't flawless. In either case, whether he dodged or took the hit, it would likely break his concentration enough for her to close in to melee range.*

[member="Galen"]

 

[Galen]

The speed and force of her avoidance alone did the work of wrenching free of his grip, and even before he could re-assert the pressure on her neck she was twisting around to drive the tankard at his head. He'd not been idle himself, however, and even as she dove had begun to shift his footing to regain distance and move to his own left. A simple duck took his head out of the way of the tankard, causing it to sail by unopposed to smash squarely into the nose of one of the hulking bystanders.

Galen felt the mood in the room shift almost instantly as the brute recovered and fixed his gaze on the zabrak woman with an anticipatory grin. The rules had precluded the possibility of any bystander interference in the bout, save in the instance that an attack spilled over into the bystanders themselves, and it seemed the inebriated crowd all agreed that the tankard was enough to fulfill that condition. After all, what mandalorian wouldn't retaliate against having a mug smashed into his mug?

"That... was your second mistake." Galen said as the crowd surged forward around him, clearly intent on putting the errant fighter in her place. Unlike the throng of brutes, there was no malice in his voice, no smirk of satisfaction or delight crossed his features, only a simple statement of fact. He doubted the mandalorians would be enough to subdue the woman, not unless they drew weapons upon discovering her to be more than she appeared, but far be it from him to draw attention when the crowd seemed willing to do his work for him.

[member="Aya D'Ordinii"]

 

[Aya D'Ordinii]

*Aya grinned. Out in the open, with everyone standing back & watching, she had to be careful to keep her strength & speed low enough to pass for zabrak norms. With everyone closing in, line of sight to most of the crowd was blocked. Add in that those closest would have a much more limited view & suddenly a whole host of options just opened up. She kept moving toward her opponent under 'normal' speed until the crowd had fully closed in. True, it had only been a pair of paces, but every little bit helped.*

*Once the crowd had closed in enough to block enough view, she kicked herself into high gear. At her top setting, she could keep pace with a jedi knight long enough to literally drive them into the ground from exhaustion. Or if it was a Master, long enough to trade a few blows at the very least, helped by the incredible amount of damage she could soak up before being put out of the fight. A crowd of vanillas, even combat heavy vanillas, wouldn't be nearly as difficult. She would avoid using the blades of her knives on the crowd. No point being overly violent after all. She didn't bump her strength settings up much beyond vanilla levels however. Again an attempt to limit damage to the crowd. She did let loose with her elbows, knees, forearms & feet.*

*A foot there to block a kick & use that same motion to slip between two of the crowd opposite. A forearm there to stop a anvil blow there dead in its tracks. A side slide there to slip out of a small knot. A duck & roll to pass right between one large member of the crowd's legs. Compared to her father's old drilling technique of trying to dance through a hail storm, it was child's play.*

*suddenly she spun between two last figures & was face to face with her opponent, the feral grin still on her face. Still at top speed, she opened up with an upper cut aimed right at the underside of his jaw.*

[member="Galen"]

 

[Galen]

Had he been idle throughout her entire display, that would indeed have been how it played out in full, and he would be forced to contend with her far superior strength and durability at a range that suited her best. A trying test if ever there was one.

He had not, however, remained stationary while she was forced to work her way through the crowd of angry brawlers. Instead, he skirted the edge in a circle, forcing her to move through a vastly higher number of patrons and their attacks by attempting to keep after him than she would if she simply traveled in a straight line out of the crowd. The fact that she was the primary focus of their ire would also do a great deal to try and shift the epicenter of the brawl to wherever she happened to be at the time. In short, Galen was making her escape from their wrath as difficult a proposition as he could manage. Even if she decided to simply bowl her way through in a straight line, she would find him standing on the opposite side of the crowd when she emerged.

In this bout, distance was his greatest ally, and he was not allowing it to go to waste. He kept his awareness on her even as he skirted the fringes, narrowing it to a single pin prick of focus as she ducked, weaved, and pushed through the throng. It had only been the space of a scant few seconds when he struck, pouring his power into that point of focus, centered within her crystalline mind. When he released the power, it would expand violently in the space of an instant; enough force and velocity to rupture high-grade durasteel. With his focus locked on her mind as it was, a simple dodge or unexpected shift of momentum would be insufficient to derail the attack this time, even should she somehow be capable of sensing the impending danger before it was too late.

[member="Aya D'Ordinii"]

 

[Aya D'Ordinii]

*If he had the time to pull it off, then his attack would have played out that way. Unfortunately, he didn't have the time. She was less than four meters from him when the crowd had closed in around her. Five long steps in the open. Maybe twice that in her tumbling acrobatic path through the crowd. Ten steps moving at a speed that a Jedi using Force speed would find extremely difficult to match. It took her less than a second & a half to clear the crowd. Even his attempts at circling did little good as she already had a sensor lock on him from before, meaning she adjusted her path as he moved. As before, she cleared the crowd at point blank range & threw an uppercut aimed at his jaw.*

[member="Galen"]

 

[Eralam]

I have to say, I was hoping for a lot more out of this fight. Given the close quarters, it should have been an all out brawl. Instead, there was a whole lot of posts where not a lot happened.

With that said, [member="Aya D'Ordinii"] wins. Here's why.

[member="Galen"]

• From the start, you were sort of PG-ish with detecting that Aya was a droid. Yes, Force sense would have probably revealed her mechanical nature, but that's not up to you to decide that. Using the Force to scan a target works just like any other Force power: you initiate, and it's up to them to decide how well it works. In this instance it's a minor issue, seeing as how she probably wouldn't have had an effective counter, but you're going to get yourself into trouble one of these days if you keep it up.
• I got the feeling halfway through a couple of your posts that you were going to do one thing, but then decided to go a different route. Nothing wrong with that, but it made things confusing to read every now and again. Also, please be as detailed as possible when describing what you're doing with your sword. Two handed grip held in front of you with the left hand on top covers a lot of ground. Are you in a high guard? Low guard? Is the blade pointing up, or is it pointing down?
• What really hurt you here was trying to control the crowd. Like any environmental hazard in a duel, it's not up to you to direct what they do or how they react. Up until that point, you and Aya were on fairly even ground, but you really shot yourself in the foot by trying to dictate how they reacted to your opponent. You've been warned before about behavior that brushed the line between acceptable and unacceptable, and you stepped across it this go round.

Aya

• You've got to be more detailed with your loadout. Laying out everything in your introductory post, rather than telling folks to look at your profile, keeps everybody honest. Not saying you would have fudged your stuff, but people have stealth edited their profile in the past.
• I thought you underplayed the Mando ass whooping by, well, a lot. Given your mechanical nature it's not impossible that you would have escaped with relatively little damage, but you would have definitely taken some.

Aya, congrats on advancing to the finals. Galen, thanks for participating, and we look forward to seeing you fight again in the future.