Jedi Dueling Tournament! Meredydd v Molidias

[Coren Starchaser]

It was the day, Jedi were coming in from all across the galaxy for the dueling tournament. While a good number signed up, many more were showing up for the networking and rest-and-relaxation that such a tournament would provide for such an event. Setting up a number of arenas around the Temples on (Praxeum World), the Jedi Praxeum was hosting Jedi from all walks to duel for eternal glory.

Or bragging rights and whatever the Jedi Artisans could cook up in their labs. Coren Starchaser, one of the figureheads of the galaxy’s Jedi, was, almost obviously, at the center of the tournament’s idea, but would only be stepping in as an alternate. He had pieced together groups into brackets based on Jedi rank and not necessarily skill levels.

What he had were several rings set up for Masters, Knights, and Padawans to go toe-to-toe. Rules were simple, compete for the time allowed, and anyone who gets knocked down is out. Step to the side, and let the contest continue as others advanced. There would be a benefit for all who participated by the end, but those who rose to the top would earn a few items.

What was happening before the tournaments, was ensuring that armors were removed, any imbued items were removed, and general sparring outfits were granted. From bodysuits, to robes, to other workout gear. Rows of training melee weapons were set up. If someone had a preferred melee weapon? They’d find the mundane, training variant here. Jedi Sentinels from Starchaser’s influence were approaching of the outdoor combat zones. Each were set up to provide enough room to spar, but no real environmental challenge.

[OOC: This thread is is for the Match with [member="Abigail Meredydd"] versus [member="Thalo Molidias"]]

 

[Sigyn Vanir]

Thalo was getting ready for his duel. He was a bit nervous, as this would be his first duel in front of a crowd. In his usual fights, the only thing to think about was to not die, while here you had to not embarras yourself, stick to rules and not be defeated. Although he was trained well and fought With a lightpike, which usualy gave him an advantage since few had fought against it, he was nervous.

He had been stripped of his armor an given the clothes he was to use. It was standard light jedi clothes, meaning normal clothes and a robe. He got dressed and checked for any hidden items, and when there was found none he was showed the weapon selection. There were all kinds of training sabers, a few of which he had never seen the kind of before. He stood for a moment considering which he should choose. He knew next to nothing about his opponent, so he couldn't base his desicson on that. The choice was between his two standards: the lightpike and the curved-hilt. He stood for a few Seconds before deciding on the lightpike, as it was more unusual.

Then, Thalo went over to the door out to the arena, leaning on a wall there. He was waiting for the signal to come out and start the duel. If he won this round, he would og against jedi Knights, stronger than any Thalo had faced before. And it didn't help that he had never actaully got very far in the training With his master, before he was lost. Thalo tried to thouroghly check how the weapon was to hold and swing. It was about the same weight and lenght as his own, so it should be fine, he hoped. Then it was back to waiting and leaning.

[member="Coren Starchaser"] [member="Abigail Meredydd"]

 

[Abigail Meredydd]

"Don't get too friendly with those hands, bud", Abigail joked as she raised her hands to let herself get checked for anything which didn't belong in the tournament. After having been given the all clear, Abigail, dressed in an easy outfit without robes, giving her maximum flexibility, walked over to the selection of weapons. Unfortunately for her, she was a bit unfamiliar with almost all of them. In her mind, the duel bladed lightsaber seemed to the closed to the spear she often used, but the duel bladed seemed to be longer than her spear, and she didn't want to be the show off- and she definitely didn't want to cut herself.

So after having ruled out the duel bladed, she tried a few others, and decided to go with the curved-hilt. She hadn't held the lightsaber hilt often, but she had wielded something similar for quite some time, and she liked the way it felt in her hand. Yes, this would be her weapon today.

As she played around with her saber a bit, performing basic techniques she might use later on, she thought to herself how easy this would've been if it had been a blaster fight. During her years as a soldier she had barely ever seen a lightsaber up close. Blasters on the other hand...

Abigail slowly walked towards the arena she would be contending in. She found it a bit strange how all these people went to watch others fight. Didn't they have better things to do? Besides, what fun was there in seeing people you don't know fight? Abby couldn't quite understand, but she hadn't come here to admire the fights, she had come here to try and improve herself. So whether she got through this round or not, she could be sure she would have achieved her goal anyway. But of course, she hoped to be the one to end up victorious.

She had fought Sith before, so theoretically she could easily take on a Padawan, right? Well no, Abigail knew better than to judge people based on mere titles. The mere title of a Padawan could still house a warrior unlike she had ever seen before. And for this reason, she took her sparring partner very seriously.

'Expect him to be hundred times better than yourself, and it won't be so bad as you expected', she thought to herself. 'Well that or you get absolutely destroyed but... happy thoughts. Happy thoughts.'

Beside her she could feel the Force wrapping around her. It was good to know it was still there, although she wondered whether she would be allowed to use it. Well, now she thought about it, she believed she heard someone mention Force powers were allowed, so she was probably good.

[member="Thalo Molidias"] [member="Coren Starchaser"]

 

[Sigyn Vanir]

Thalo recieved the signal to go out into the arena. He grabbed his lightsaber-pike and used it as a walking stick, to not use energy carrying it unescessary before the duel. There were many people whe were going to watch the fight, which Thalo didn't understand. Why did people like to watch fighting? It was beyond understanding, and Thalo couldn't think about it now. He walked to the middle of the arena where ho would fight [member="Abigail Meredydd"], the sun slightly annoying his eyes. If this had been on a Cold planet, Thalo would have won for sure since he was pantoran. But no, this was on a Place where the environment was supposed to not be a Challenge for anyone.

His opponent also came to the middle of the arena. She was a few years older than Thalo, but this shouldn't be a problem. He had defeated older enemies before, and the youn woman standing in front of him was supposed to be on padawan level. Thalo switched to hold his weapon in his left hand, and extended his right for his opponent to shake. "Good luck."

 

[Abigail Meredydd]

As they received the go-ahead, Abigail made her way into the arena. She quickly looked towards her opponent. While looks didn't necessarily represent skills, the way the man moved told Abigail that he would probably be something she had to be wary about. This wasn't going to be easy.

After have walked over to the man, Abigail gave him a nod as a greeting before she shook his hand. "Thank you and good luck to you too. Let's make it a good and proper fight."

Having said what she wanted to, she walked back, so that their fight could soon truly begin. She was interested in seeing who would come out on top. Of course, she hoped it would be her, but she wasn't there yet. She fiddled with the hilt of her saber as she awaited the starting signal. She wasn't the only one who was a bit nervous as she could feel the Force moving around her in a quick fashion, moving rapidly.

[member="Thalo Molidias"]

 

[Sigyn Vanir]

After having shaken hands, Thalo went back to his side of the arena. He entered a start pose of form 6, niman. He usually used this form when fighting opponents he didn't know. It was the most versatile form, and suited him, as his fighting style With a lighsaber-pike needed to be unusual and versatile. That way, he was unpredictable for his opponents.As he waited for the signal to begin, he tried to evaluate [member="Abigail Meredydd"], felt out With the force. He noticed something strange about the force in her, but he couldn't put his finger on what it was. It was best to be cautious.

The signal for the duel to start came. Thalo didn't hesitate, wouldn't give his opponent the chance to gain the upper hand. He grabbed his weapon in his right hand, and leapt at her. He held the pike out in front of him, aiming to barely miss. When he did miss, he grabbed the pike With both hands, and swing the lower end of it at his opponents jaw.

 

[Abigail Meredydd]

Abigail patiently waited for the match to start. When they received the signal, Abigail expected the fight to start slowly, with both participants playing defensively. She was wrong however, as the man immediately leapt towards her. Abigail barely dodged it, activated her saber, and blocked the second swing the man threw at her. Unfortunately the momentum the swing had by then caught her a bit of guard, and so it still hit her jaw, but with less intensity.

Not wanting to give the man an opportunity for a combo, she tried to kick him in his chest , which was relatively exposed, to push him back so she could get a proper defence up. It was her fault for not being ready the moment the signal was given, but now she was getting serious. She would be playing rather defensively at first, like she tended to always do. But she wouldn't keep fighting that way for the entire match.

[member="Thalo Molidias"]

 

[Sigyn Vanir]

It was clear that his opponent wasn't prepared for it to start so quickly, as she was taken slightly aback by his fast attack. She barely managed to dodge his trick move, but partially his second strike to. She blocked the second strike, but it still hit, just with less power than Thalo had hoped for. He lost attention for a short moment, because he didn't think she would block it, and in that time she managed to kick his chest. He stumbled backwards a little, and cursed at himself under his breath for letting his attention slip. He couldn't afford to be surprised like that again.

She had now entered a defensive stance. Thalo wasn't too happy about this, as a lightpike worked best against a more aggresive opponent. It would be hard to penetrate her defense with it, but he would still try to fight fast, vigorously and unpredictable. And hope for the fight to not last long. He grabbed the handle of his weapon in both hands and poked it out against her, then quickly pulling it back n before it could hit its mark, and using the power and momentum to spin around, striking from the right at her leg.

[member="Abigail Meredydd"]

 

[Abigail Meredydd]

Her opponent seemed annoyed with himself for allowing Abigail to kick him in the chest. This might... be useful later, in some way.

'Okay, just play it calm, play it cool. If he wants to fight aggressively, I'll do the opposite. Wear him down, tire him. And that, that's when I'll strike... hopefully', Abigail thought as she kept her saber in front of her, observing every move her opponent made to make sure she wouldn't be surprised once again. Abigail raised her saber to block the man's attack, but when he suddenly pulled back, it took Abigail a second to realise where the actual blow would be coming from. Luckily for her however, she still managed to block the actual swing thanks to her defensive stance, although the block wasn't perfect as she had taken a bit too much time to see it coming. Because it wasn't perfect, she unfortunately didn't see a window to counterattack.
Not to worry, that would come later. If everything went well, that was. While Abigail was good with defense, she knew she was far from perfect, and it was likely one of the next attacks would hit her. She couldn't do it now, but she shouldn't wait to long with going on the offensive a few times.
But for now, she raised her saber again, standing defensively and waiting for her opponent to make a move. Whatever he did, if Abigail was granted the opportunity, she would try to deflect his blow and follow it up with an attack herself.

[member="Thalo Molidias"]

 

[Sigyn Vanir]

Blocking one trick move: okay. But blocking the second one too, it made Thalo impatient. He was sure the spin would be too fast for her, but she blocked it too. Luckily, she didn't manage to attack him this time. Thalo had observed that neither of her blocks had been completly perfect, and were most likely on instinct. This was a good sign, it meant that she wasn't prepared for the sudden attacks, and didn't fully know how to fight them. He had been in fights like this before; the enemy just blocking without knowing how to fight back. But even if it was a good sign, it wouldn't save him. The fast and aggresive style he used was best for short duels, and in prolonged ones it was a certain doom. He would have to find a way to end it quick.

Once again, his opponent resumed a defensive position, holding her saber raised. She was once again going to block and try a counter, so it seemed at least. If she continued like this, to only block and not go for a real attack, this duel would never end. No, it couldn't go on like this. Something would have to happen, and hopefully fast. But he couldn't stop his own attack, once he had started on this strategy. Then it dawned on him: both of them were focusing too much on the weapons. The only attack that had trully hit was the kick he had recieved. He grabbed his weapon in both hands and charged at her, and about one meter from her, he stabbed it in the ground. Then he himself jumped up, holding the weapon that was still in the ground and kicked her, using the staff as a jumping-pole. When he landed again, he held his weapon in one hand, swinging around slashing at her With the weapon.

[member="Abigail Meredydd"]

 

[Abigail Meredydd]

Abigail's eyes followed the man's weapon more than they followed the man himself, which was a fact for which Abby would soon pay a price, albeit a small one.
As the man planted his weapon in the ground, Abigail's focus went to the weapon, as she had anticipated a low swing. She would be lying if she had said she wasn't taken by suprise a little bit, because she was.The kick she received was rough and made her stumble back. It was this kick, and the expected swing that the man was bound to follow up with, caused the Force to assist her, granting her that much extra strength and speed to recover just in time to properly block the man's swing. The added speed and the time it took for the man to land and grab his weapon again gave Abigail enough time to finally execute a near perfect block.
Not wanting her opponent to be the overwhelming force for the entirety of the match, she swung her lightsaber in a straight horizontal line, on the same height as the man's chest. Of course, the swing was aimed to hit her opponent, but Abigail had executed it the way she had because even if the man dodged or blocked it, he'd be forced back and forced to surrender the small advantage of surprise he had enjoyed.

[member="Thalo Molidias"]

 

[Sigyn Vanir]

Finally he got in a real hit. The strategy went as he hoped, and she was more focused on his weapon, then where the attack would come from. The kick made her stumble backwards, but what happened next, was very unexpected. When he landed and swung his lightpike aroung, she was already steady on her feet. She perfectly blocked the swing, making Thalo slightly unsteady. He grabbed his weapon in both hands as fast he could. But it was not enough. She was now attacking him, and fast, before he could properly recover.
Her attack, a horizontal strike, was executed perfectly. Thalo quickly took a step back, and held his saber in both hands to Block the attack. It hit on the hilt, between his hands, With great force. To not leave himself voulnerable, he made a small jump back, geining a small distance. He didn't like the way this had turned. It was as if his opponent was someone else, completly guided by the force. He figured another trick move wouldn't get through. And his normally unusual fighting syle would leave him to exposed to attacks. If she was planning on continuing like this, he had to find a New way.
His mind raced in the few Seconds from her attack till he had landed a few feet away. Then he suddenly remembered something. Something his lost master had taught him long ago. He held the lightpike in his right hand, in a reverse grip, behind his back. This was called the fool's guard, and it made it look like one had little defense, but you could easly swing the saber in front of you to Block. Then he held his hand in front of him, preparing for the next attack. She would be surprised

[member="Abigail Meredydd"]

 

[Abigail Meredydd]

The man jumped back, which was to be expected. Sure, Abigail had hoped to hit the man, but the way things had turned out now was fine as well, as it made her opponent give up his advantage, evening the odds.

Then her opponent seemed to... think of something, and proceeded to take a stance which Abigail thought to be quite risky. And that was exactly the reason why she stopped herself mid-swing. It was dangerous to do that, and it left a pretty easy window for her opponent to strike her, but at least he wouldn't be able to get a proper hit.

As Abigail stopped mid-swing and tried to change into a more defensive stance, she knew she was bound to feel a fist or elbow in her stomach or chest within mere seconds, but it was best this way. The stance this man had taken seemed very illogical to Abigail, and it was exactly that thought which had told her that something wasn't right. The man obviously knew more than she did about his motives, so while Abigail now presented an opportunity for the man to hit her chest, it could have been much, much worse if she had finished her swing.

She knew one thing though, as soon as she would feel the man's hit, she would attempt to strike him at the side of his body. He would have to come close to her to hit her, and while doing it was quite possible he would in turn present Abigail a window to attack.

[member="Thalo Molidias"]

 

[Sigyn Vanir]

There were many who would call this a fools strategy, but if used correctly it could potentially be Deadly. It was not Thalo's intention for it to be Deadly, just to get him back an advantage. Maybe Ensure a victory. No, not Ensure victory, he could not think like that. It usually led to recklessness, and then to defeat. No, he used it only to get an advantage.

His opponent hadn't noticed it at once, and had started an attack. Her first mistake. Then she noticed, and stopped her attack mid-swing. Second mistake. If she had continued her attack, he might not have been able to block it, or Counter. Might not have. He had prepared to Block, but With this stance, anything could happen. But he realised at once that he didn't need to worry.

In the short second when she stopped her swing, and he saw it, Thalo's mind raced for what to do next. But he couldn't ponder this, and decided. He held hard around the lightpike he held in reverse grip, and thrust it forward, aiming for his opponent's stomach. It would sacrifice Power he could have got from a force enhanced punch, but it left his left hand free in case something unexpected would happen. If this was the smart thing to do, he wasn't sure, but he had to make the Choice. Now, he was starting to feel the exhastion kick in. He would still manage fine, but not for much longer. If he was to win, he would have to end this soon.

[member="Abigail Meredydd"]

 

[Abigail Meredydd]

It wasn't what she was preparing for, but every situation had a way to get out relatively unharmed. At least that's what Abigail had always told herself. The man wasn't aiming to play nice, but seemed to be going for the big hit, swinging his lightpike from behind his body towards Abby. Because the man had to swing the lightpike from behind his back, instead of just punching her with his free fist, Abigail received a split second to think. It was way too little time to dodge on her own, that was for sure, but she always had a... surprise ready for occasions like this. To be fair, his opponent had thought this out quite well, for he was already mid-swing and Abigail was in no position to dodge.

Thing was, she did have the time to speak a single word. A safe word, so to say. It wasn't going to feel good, oh, she knew it was definitely not going to feel good, but she was also rather confident that it was a more likable option than being hit with a lightpike.

"Pelle", she spoke quickly the moment she had noticed the man's weapon being brought into motion towards her. Not a second after the word had been spoken, Abigail felt quite the push against her chest. It wasn't as hurtful as she had expected, but it sure was comfortable. As she felt the force push, which could have very well been described as her own, she was thrown back a couple of meters, barely missing the man's attack before falling on her back.

After a small groan, cursing herself for a second, Abigail swiftly rose to her feet again, grabbing her saber tightly as she walked back towards her opponent. The push really hadn't been as bad as she remembered. Her opponent must've been sure he had the win secured, but while Abigail's strengths might not have lied in her saber skills, she definitely had her strengths, one of which the man had started to experience.

As she walked back over to the man, who wasn't done with the fight yet either, she swung her saber with a powerful strike over her head, aimed for her opponent. Simple strikes weren't her speciality, and definitely not her most preferred tactic, but she had to end this soon. Her opponent was undoubtedly thinking the same thing: she had seen it in his eyes and his stance. He was getting weaker and growing tired of this fight, which was a positive thing for Abigail. Unfortunately though, she was in the same boat. She had felt it when she landed from the force push. Her opponent hadn't gotten a devastating hit on her, but he had gotten quite a few small hits, hits which Abigail was starting to feel more strongly than she liked.

[member="Thalo Molidias"]

 

[Sigyn Vanir]

Everything happened fast, too fast to understand. Thalo was sure of the hit, but suddenly his opponent was blown back, out of reach. This made him tumble forward, barely able to not fall. A force push to oneself, how?, he thought. It was very uncommon, and she was not in a position to do it easly. Maybe there was more to this woman than met the eye. Very risky, especially this far into the Battle. Partially duo to him showing honor, but mosty because he was lost in thought, he let her get on her feet and walk back. The push had drained her, and he could see she was getting tired as well, as he wa sure she had seen on him.

When she came Close enough, she did a simple overhead-strike. It would be easy to deflect, and Thalo did With a Block from the side. It was deflected, but stronger than he thought, and therefor he had to take a step back. No, it couldn't continue like this, it was too draining. They both wanted the duel to end soon, but neither wanted to give in. And the strategy he had used until now had left him tired. His movements were slower, his attacks had less Power. The only thing he could do now was defensive. He was not very good With soresu, but he could use a defensive Version of niman. It wasn't optimal, but it was his only Choice. All the other forms he could use well enough were offensive.

He decided to use what little he knew of soresu in combination With niman. There could be only Block and deflect, no Counter-moves until the moment was right. Using the force in Battle had never been his strong side, but if it came to it, he would. Now he took up a defensive position: holding his lightpike in both hands diagonally in front of him, ready to take on any attack that came. If his stamina was up to it.

[member="Abigail Meredydd"]

 

[Abigail Meredydd]

The way her opponent easily blocked her strike, even though he stumbled back a bit, confirmed what Abigail had already suspected. The man was still far too capable to be defeated by simple strikes, and it would take something far more tricky to get him down.

They were both tired, but Abigail knew that unless one of them started taking risks, they would both tire at the same rate, dragging this battle along forever. That wouldn't do, no, she had to do something which ensured her victory in this match and ended their game.

Abigail straightened her back, even though the small action already created little pains everywhere, and stood stronger with the Force surrounding her. She would have to rely on it if she wanted to finish this quickly without the battle dragging on forever, as one blocked and one striked, only to switch roles and do it all again.

No. She had a plan. Abigail wasn't sure it was actually going to work, but she could always try. She slowly starting walking towards her opponent, who had assumed a defensive stance. She moved faster and faster, until she finally was within striking-range. She crossed her arms in front of her chest, so that she could get as much power into her swing as possible. However, just before she swung, all of the Force's tension which had been built around her was released suddenly towards her opponent, with the intention of breaking his block, and immediately after the Force push Abigail swung her saber powerfully, using almost every bit of energy she had left to strike as hard as she could.

[member="Thalo Molidias"]

 

[Sigyn Vanir]

His strategy hadn't been the best, nor worked as it should. What happened, he had not expected. But it had heppened. It seemed to him that his opponent was going for another simple strike. It was wierd, but they were both tired. His defense was up, his plan ready. But this force push, or what it was, came unexpected. It shattered his defense. And the strike that came after would have ended him in a real battle to the death. Thalo threw his lightpike up to block, but it didn't save him. It blocked the strike, but it was too powerful to be stopped.

He tumbled and fell to the ground. The lightpike lay nearby, but he wasn't sure if it was wise to continue. The fight had been going on for a long time, and they were both exhausted. Thalo felt how tired his muscles were, and decided that the match was over. "I yield," he said while holding his hand out in front if himself to show that he meant it. When he got up, he went over to the woman he had fought, and extended a hand. "Good fight. I don't think I got Your name, and I'd like to know who beat me"

[member="Abigail Meredydd"]