Knives Out (OS vs GR Skirmish on Ruusan) PM to join

[Kerstas]

Objective: Beat the Padawan (and look awesome as poodoo while beating said Padawan)
Location: I'm In Love, ooooooh, I'm a belie-- uh, I mean, just outside the Academy. ((Sorry, it's midnight and I'm loopy. Yeeeeeehaw!))
Allies: The Sith
Enemies: [member="Travot Ravenna"]

Kerstas scowled faintly as the Padawan managed to deflect her block, but she quickly got over it. After all, it wouldn't do to lose her concentration over one minor failure.

And it was a good thing she was focused, for a mere second after the block, the Padawan sent a Force Push at her feet. While it didn't completely knock her down, it still sent the Chagrian stumbling backwards.

The scowl re-emerged as she steadied herself, and the girl took note of the Padawan moving to her right. So, she moved to his right, ccausing both to circle each other. Her lightsaber steady, the Acolyte watched the Padawan with caution.

What to do, what to do. They could go back and forth with their blades until someone gave out, but that would get bothersome rather quickly -- especially since he was much stronger than she was. What the girl needed was a surprise. Then, her mind went to the first time she'd met her master, and a small smirk played across her lips.

Focusing on the dark side, Kerstas began to manipulate the air around them, adjusting and controlling the temperature until a fog cloud materialised, growing thicker by the second. As she concentrated, the girl turned off her lightsaber (so as to avoid the light giving her presence away) and waited before the fog was near-impenetrable before making her move.

Walking so as to not make much noise, quieting her breathing, Kerstas slowly circled around the man, moving around and away from his right side. Then, without a moment's hesitation, the girl stopped creating fog and used the Force to jump up before coming down in the Ataru form of Falling Leaf. Like Makashi, Ataru was not a form which she excelled in -- but she knew enough to somewhat get by. And she hoped that, if the Falling Leaf technique worked, she could go into the Saber Swarm attack.

And then, hopefully, claim her first Jedi kill.

 

[Kenrath]

Objective: Murder and Mayhem
Location: Ruusan Starport
Allies: [member="Warok the Defiler"] [member="Viktor Noali"]
Enemies: [member="Aela Talith"] [member="Micah Talith"] [member="Sabena Shai"]

Vengeance took a deep breath as a smell hit him. It was the smell of burnt flesh. It made him smile slightly as it seemed at least one of his attacks had worked. It's shame he didn't know which one. If it had been the lightening then he would know where about the Jedi was. The saber whirlwind though left to clue as he had ended up doing a full 360 with it.

Vengeance stood from the slightly crouched position his saber at the ready.

"Come out come out where ever you are little gizka." "I know I got you."

While he eyes were still open Vengeance tried to find the Jedi through the force. Trying to pick out the boys signature between the surrounding ones. It was not something Vengeance hand practiced which gave him a fifty fifty shot at getting it right. He thought for a second he felt something just to his right thing the Jedi had tried to come in from the left. Without warning Vengeance slashed coming from the center of his body slashing out and across towards his right 90 degrees.

 

[Setzi Lunelle]

Objective: Defend the Academy
Location: Ruusan entrance
Allies: Galactic Republic
Enemies: [member="Tanek Santii"]

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4s3dOn0GfQ[/youtube]

To date Setzi’s combat practice consisted of basic Shii-cho maneuverers with some Shien to deflect blaster fire. She was not familiar with the absolutely crushing power of Djem So attacks. Setzi parried each lightning fast advance from the Sith Knight but in doing so had to leap onto her back foot each time. Therefore she was moving backwards, again and again. She had youth and athleticism on her side, but so did he. Or so she imagined, not familiar with a Togruta life span.

Since she was skittering backwards, desperately trying to ward off his attacks, she slipped on his last strike, and the blade brushed her side. She was overcome by a blistering pain unlike anything the she had ever felt. It nearly made her falter but she jumped back, using Force enhancement to put a wider berth between them. The padawan still held her blue saber up with both hands, but like a sinking ship, her torso listed to one side in agony. She grimaced in pain.

As for Setzi’s mind? That was rapidly being broken down by the much stronger Sith. While it was tempting to direct her rage at the Togruta, she had actually been directing it internally at Master Hinata for the last few minutes, for having thought she was ready for this terrible trial. I am nowhere near ready for this, she thought. Is this what you wanted, Hinata? For me to surrender like this?

She didn't answer the Togruta back. She only attacked. Spurred on by anger, now directed at everything – at the Sith, at the situation, at her Master eager for her to fight this battle, she ran at him, using a bit of Force speed to close the distance and recklessly lifted her lightsaber in a high arc to come down on top of him, exposing her torso which ached with pain.

 

[Taeli Raaf]

Location: Enclave courtyard
Objective: Fight the brother, bolster the spirit of the others
Allies: [member="Dair Cotarin"] [member="Setzi Lunelle"] [member="Zylah Dvale"]
Enemies: [member="Darth Valdra"] [member="Saiah"]

Taeli could appreciate his speed, he had indeed worked very hard to get as fast as he was. Combined with Juyo's inherent trait of being about pure power, Taeli had to use her spinning saber to great effect here. She blocked the flash to her chest, her spinning saber getting in the way of her slash at her neck as she spun away, but his blade was still able to pierce her side instead of her stomach.

Even as she felt the blade slip into her side, a fire blossoming in her lower abdomen, she sent a telepathic message to the other she could feel falling to Sith taunts and dun moch.

'Stay strong, it is a Sith technique known as dun moch they are using to confuse and anger you,' she said, her concentration flagging a little as the blade emerged through her side. Nothing vital hit, but it certainly wasn't pleasant. She could sense her sister though, and she decided that a message needed to be sent to [member="Melori Raaf"]. But not a normal message, a backlash.

Instead of a simple telepathic message, Taeli allowed Melori to feel every ounce of pain a lightsaber through the side would cause. Hopefully that would distract her enough for her opponent to have a fighting chance. Back to the matter at hand though as that had all happened within the span of the blade entering her.

Well that certainly hurt a lot, but he over-extended with his stab and she was still spinning, her lightsaber blade heading right for the hand wielding the lightsaber. To make sure he wasn't going to be able to move it in time, she put her considerable command of the Force into one action, and that was holding his hand and saber where it was with a Force Grip. Even if he was able to pull it away, it would be much too slow and he was going to lose something, whether it be his hand, a few fingers, or just his lightsaber, for his mistake of stabbing at someone with the lightsaber equivalent of an energy saw.

 

[Darth Timoris]

Objective: Bring you to your knees
Location: Outside the Jedi Academy
Allies: Meh…
Enemies: [member="Zylah Dvale"] (claimed) and my pesky sister [member="Taeli Raaf"]
Theme: Time for the Melori anthem…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DB2ELkIzWQ0

‘I'm the voice inside your head
You refuse to hear
I'm the face that you have to face
Mirrored in your stare

I'm what's left, I'm what's right
I'm the enemy
I'm the hand that will take you down
Bring you to your knees

So who are you?
Yeah, who are you?
Yeah, who are you?
Yeah, who are you?

What if I say I'm not like the others?
What if I say I'm not just another one of your plays?
You're the pretender
What if I say I will never surrender?’

Melori pressed her advantage – there was plenty of time to use her Force Abilities but for now she was sticking to a more traditional duelling technique. And she kept the acrobatics out too. Despite her abilities with Teräs Käsi, she would hold them in reserve until the time was right. For the Padawan would surely press back at some point and that would be the time to switch up to a more aggressive style.

But before she could push on, she felt a searing pain in her lower abdomen. In the course of a fight she would have ignored the apparent injury – but given her opponent hadn’t laid a blade on her, she felt forced to look down. There was no wound, but the pain was apparent.

The things about Force Bonds is that they’re strong between Master and Apprentice. And they’re also powerful between siblings. Add those two together and it was obvious how her sister was able to transmit the agony she was feeling herself.

Melori frowned. She had lost the initiative but rather than allow the pain to affect her negatively she used it. It fuelled her reserves of energy. She’d learned to use fear as well as pain as catalysts for her use of the Force.

So rather than move forward, she unclipped her other saber and instantly locked them together. With a flick of her thumb, a second blade was activated and she adopted the Ataru opening stance.

"I'm the hand that will bring you down..."

 

[Darth Vaildra]

Location: Jedi Enclave Courtyard
Objective: Kill or capture [member="Taeli Raaf"]
Enemies: Republic
Allies: One Sith [member="Saiah"]

There might be a Sith still in her yet. Valdra had three attacks, one to the chest, one to the neck and one where he dropped low and went for the stomach. This was not done just for the heck of it, he took her blade into consideration on that last move knowing his first two would be blocked, had to be blocked. It was math really, math of speed. The more attacks you use on someone the more likely you are to connect. Then there is distance, he had to test her distance with her odd blade by striking from middle, top, to low; low got through.

Then something happened Valdra did not expect, he did expect her to try to whack off a limb, but that was the Universe for you. If there is an arm someone will try to cut it off. What he was going to do to stop it though was the problem, his entrance, as fun as it was, took a lot out of him and he was still trying to get it back, foolish man he could be. So because of that there was no way he had it in him to harness plasma to bind to his arm and black it like armor, his cortsis armor was not going to be enough. He resorted to the only option he had.

Valdra had to use a sort of mock version of Tutaminis as he was not even close to skilled enough to stop the lightsaber. He brought in his free left hand and harnessed the wind to create a vortex between the blade incoming and arm. This would slow down the blade at first, but it met Valdra's arm and took a bite, a decent bite, a painful bite. Valdra preservered and kept pushing for a moment longer. He let go of the lightsaber still in her and used the Force to return the favour and pushed it deeper until he could not bare anymore the pain and he ripped his arm from her grip which dislocated it and sent a sweeping kick for her legs. With his only working hand he unsheathed his lightsaber and hoping that his kick dropped her he would point his lightsaber to her neck.

He was hoping that this would be checkmate because for ether to continue would be suicide, especially Valdra with his right arm dangeling by his side. Not only was the his dominant arm, if he didn't get somewhere to fix it he would lose it. He used the Force, what little he had left to push on and hopefully capture the Jedi Master before she suffered more from the wound especially if he was successful in pushing his blade deeper into her and hitting something vital like a liver or the stomach itself. If all went as written then Valdra would say, in a very horsed and out of breath voice, "in the name of the Dark Lord, I Darth Valdra place you under arrest." He liked being formal, made things seem more official and less barbaric.

 

[Taeli Raaf]

Location: Enclave Courtyard
Objective: Annoyance levels growing
Allies: [member="Dair Cotarin"]
Enemies: [member="Darth Valdra"] [member="Saiah"]

His lightsaber blade in her side was definitely a concern, but she kept a neutral look on her face as her attack took out a chunk of his arm and he drove the blade deeper into her. Problem was, it was in her side, not her main abdomen so it was still not going to hit anything vital on its way through. It still hurt like hell though and as he let go of the lightsaber in her and wrenched his arm free of her grip, she moved away to avoid the kick and put a little distance between them.

She had faced pain far worse as her time as a Sith, and as she used the Force to pull the lightsaber out of her, she could appreciate the challenge he presented. Still, she just had a hole through her side, he had a disabled arm.

"I'd consider surrendering yourself," she said, her lightsaber blades still spinning. "We both took some injuries, but I think your's is definitely the more severe and you're much more drained than I am from your flashy entrance."

To drive her point home, green electricity flowed from her hand and surrounded her lightsaber blades. The green electricity, Electric Judgment, was the Jedi version of Force Lightning, her favorite technique when she was a Sith Lady, and now her skill with it would be on display as if he tried to clash baldes again, he would be blasted by the lightning.

"Walk away, and there be no further need to fight," she continued, making sure to keep the few feet between them. "I think we both learned somethings about the other today."

 

[Darth Vaildra]

Location: Jedi Enclave Courtyard
Objective: Kill or capture [member="Taeli Raaf"]
Enemies: Republic
Allies: One Sith [member="Saiah"]

Valdra merely looked at her at first, curious how she would even know about his entrance since no one was around and the Enclave was not in view. No matter, his orange eyes began to burn like hot coals in a fire, she severely underestimated him. He had a scar across his eye, scars are nothing and one arm, any good duelist could duel with one arm, drummers too, but that is another story. He merely continued looking at her with his one eye.

While he could still press his luck and try to press forward, he didn't know if he could transport her and maybe another fight would break out. He scoffed, irritated by the situation and merely slowly turned, deactivating his lightsaber and leaving the way he came. He got in his ship and piloted it off planet while a medic droid worked to fixed his arm and face.

 

[Darth Pyrrhus]

Objective: Fuel the fire
Location: Ruusan entrance
Allies: [member=Tanek Santii]
Enemies: [member=Setzi Lunelle] (claimed)

Tanek was encouraged by seeing her withdraw from his advance. It played well into Djem So's strength, allowing him to maintain pressure as he dished out powerful blows her way. She was fast, though. Despite being on the defence, falling back, she was holding him off. Then he hit her! It was but a flesh wound, but there was pain in the air. Perhaps him landing the first hit would add to the psychological pressure he had attempted to build up?

Before he could follow up with anything else, the Padawan leapt out of his path. Thinking of that very psychological strain he sought to put her mind under, he decided not to charge in after her. Instead, he'd give her time to mull over the situation, as well as give himself time to try to analyze where her mind was at.

He received an answer to his unspoken question, but not the one he was expecting. He had thought her fast before. Now she was fast. For a moment, doubt flashed across his eyes. He raised his blade in a horizontal block, taking the overhead swing, though his feet slid backwards across the ground a few feet. She had come at him with rage... With fury. Yes!

Tanek would attempt to redirect her blade, spinning his in a half circle, attempting guide both of their blades off to the side. If successful, he'd attempt a quick jab towards her side. Feeling like inflicting more pain on the girl, fuelling her passions, he targeted the area where he'd previously struck her.

 

[Taeli Raaf]

Location: Enclave Courtyard
Objective: Walk away

As he left, she let out a sigh of relief and immediately regretted that as the pain flared up in her side again. She would need to get that looked at sooner rather than later, but it could have ended a lot worse. She needed to get out of the lab more apparently, she was getting rusty in fighting. Maybe her sister would help her with that, but for now it was time to leave and let what will happen.

It wouldn't be the last time she would encounter him, she just had that feeling that Hakora would be back and this was only the beginning of a probable rivalry and grudge. He seemed to have a problem with the Raaf family in general, but now . . . oh that could be a problem. Melori could possibly be in danger if Hakora decided she would be perfect bait for Corvus and her.

Limping away from the scene of their fight, she knew she hadn't won that fight. She hadn't lost it yet, but it was definitely a draw that was tilted in his favor beyond his arm wound. Reaching her ship, she laid down and let her medical droid attend to her side wound as the autopilot took off and switched the ship to stealth mode. It was worse than she had thought it was, but it was at least something that would be healed after awhile.

 

[Elijah Black]

Objective: Compose a love letter to [member=Taeli Raaf]
Location: Outside the Jedi Academy
Allies: The Force
Enemies: [member=Melori Raaf] (claimed)

Suddenly, she heard a voice in her head. Was she going crazy? Oh Force, was she gonna become crazy cat Jedi lady? However, Zylah quickly realized that the voice belonged to another. She recognized it from the attack on Malif Cove. It belonged to [member=Taeli Raaf], and she was lending her a helping hand through the Force. Those Raaf gals, they were alright. Well, all except one...

Stay strong. The support was well appreciated, and very much needed, as Zylah was indeed hitting an all time low. Never had her resolve struck this low in a fight before, and she was realizing it wasn't a coincidence. it is a Sith technique known as dun moch they are using to confuse and anger you. Zylah had allowed herself to fall prey to Sith tactics, sending herself in a downwards spiral as she let Melori's words get to her, destabilize her. She was better than this, wasn't she? Did she not owe it to ever Jedi here, putting their lives on the line to defend Ruusan? And what of other people on Ruusan, on other planets the Sith threatened? Once more her mind went to Prudence. It wasn't that the little kitten was in any danger on Ossus, or that her life outweighed those on Ruusan. But she was becoming a symbol to Zylah, of pure, yet helpless innocence.

Zylah wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes. Her opponent seemed distracted as well, if only for a moment. Once more, Zylah reached out to touch the Force, feeling it flowing through her body. She wished to reach out to Taeli, to thank her. Corvus had taught her how, but Zylah was still an initiate, and it would take time, time she needed to focus on something else. She'd remember to seek Taeli out and thank her after the battle. The fact that she could even envision an 'after the battle' scene was a step in the right direction.

Zylah called upon the Force, forming a mental shield, imagining her mind being protected by a liquid bubble. It was a technique Corvus had taught her to protect her mind from being invaded. She wasn't sure if Melori was actually in her mind, or if she was just good at hitting her buttons. Admittedly, Zylah had been vulnerable. Becoming aware of the presence of [member=Sage Bane] as the Sith forces descended had thrown her a little off from the start. Whether or not it actually served any purpose in this fight was not the main issue however. The point was that she was doing something. She was calling on the Force, she set herself a goal, and she completed it. Just doing something like that made her feel a little better. Though it had been but a sentence, that one gentle sentence from Taeli had meant the world to her.

Melori drew out a second saber, attaching it. Suddenly her opponent was equipped with a double-bladed lightsaber. The exotic weapon was one she'd never encountered before. It was, however, something she had been curious about. She had even asked Kian Karr about it. Now it would seem she'd get to experience it firsthand. This might've been disheartening, especially considering the state she'd been in a some moments ago. But Zylah felt herself fill with a new confidence, her resolve returning to her. "Not today" she said to Melori, and lifted her blade, holding it in a ready position. She was done hiding, she was done making excuses. Moreover, she was done letting Melori control the fight without her having a say in it.

The Force gathered within her again. This time she let it gather near her feet, as she kicked off, launching herself towards the Acolyte at a speed. Now it was her turn to be on the attack. She'd hopefully catch her opponent off guard with this sudden turnaround. Provided she made it to her target, Zylah would open with an attack sequence, following her preferred Form IV, Ataru. The attacks were a number of fast-paced strikes, aimed to come at her from multiple angles, attempting to strike at her waist on both sides, as well as targeting her shoulders.

 

[Travot Ravenna]

Location: Just outside the Academy
Objective: Not die
Allies: Jedi
Enemies: [member="Kerstas"]

He eyed the Sith apprentice in front of him warily, slowly circling around her, and her around him. It reminded him of watching those nature holo-documentaries, where the Corellian sandpanthers circled each other, waiting for one to make the next, and hopefully wrong, move. As Travot started formulate his plan, a mist began to coalesce around them. He frowned before letting a brief groan escape his lips. Not another illusion...Yet it all felt so real against his skin. It actually felt refreshing after walking around in the desert canyon for the last hour. Perhaps it's not an illusion? The woman's fiery saber blade disappeared from view, and her along with it. A flicker of worry crossed his mind, before he could hear one of the Order's masters on Ossus walking him and his fellow padawans through a lesson.

A brief smile creased his face as he remembered the incredibly dorky-looking and awkward blinding helmet they wore during several of their sessions against remotes. One of the younger padawans had complained about it, though when Master Oduran mentioned that that was Luke Skywalker's first and only lightsaber lesson from Obi-Wan Kenobi, he hushed up quickly. An almost hallowed lightsaber drill...but it's really not about the lightsaber, is it?

Travot closed his eyes, reaching out through the Force around him to feel its currents and ripples around him. The peaceful aura of the Valley of the Jedi endured in the background, though the chaos of battle tainted and distracted him from fully experiencing it. He searched out and felt the oddly cold presence of Kerstas. Above, but how? He quickly removed the thought from his mind and focused on [member="Kerstas"] and her interaction with him, deftly guiding his blade in a circular orbit to intercept her falling leaf strike. The man kept his eyes closed, drawing himself deeper to merge with the Force itself, letting it guide his actions as he started entering Soresu's classic circle of defense. The man's saber would whip around in tight defensive arcs around his body. Sorese might not have many attacks, but it excelled at keeping its practicioners alive and well.

 

[Setzi Lunelle]

Objective: Defend the Academy
Location: Ruusan entrance
Allies: Galactic Republic
Enemies: [member="Tanek Santii"]

In the periphery of Setzi’s mind, she detected a telepathic message from Jedi Master, [member="Taeli Raaf"] warning her of the dangers of Dun Moch. But it was too late for the brunette padawan as she was halfway closing the distance towards her Sith opponent. As the two blades clashed and whirled in half circle, Setzi felt she as if she could hold him if only for a few seconds. And then the quickness of the Togruta caught up to her, and he shifted both their blades to the side with his powerful strength. To her dismay, The Sith Knight struck the same spot in her torso that he had before, about three inches above her right hip, and this time, the wound was deeper.

Setzi’s knees buckled, and she crumpled to the cold ground, still clutching her lightsaber in one hand. She had never experienced pain like that before, not even when she was twelve and had fallen off of her parent’s dirtcrawler in the maze-stalk farm on Aduba-3, ending up with a concussion and three broken ribs.

But her fresh wound was an absolute torment! It felt as though someone had given her a hundred lashes in the same spot with a barbed whip. The burned and exposed flesh also caught on the interior fabric of her woolen robes, and each time she moved, she felt that maddening prickle of pain.

Her concentration was broken, and she could barely summon the Force to help with her agony. From her position on the ground, she looked up the crimson red skin and exotic stripes of her opponent and watched his chest heave up and down from exertion. Togrutas were a handsome species and she would be - if she were not so furious at him for causing so much pain - quite distracted by his graceful beauty, sharp incisors and all.

Setzi grit her teeth and stifled a moan, putting both hands on the ground in front of her to not pass out from the pain. You will not hear me wail in agony, Sith, she told him mentally. It was the one thing she could control. But suddenly she realized if she didn’t do something – either attack him or surrender – she would likely die from his hand.

The brunette Padawan gazed up at him as though seeking absolution and said, “Please… enough. Just don’t kill me.” In the meantime her mind was broken and fragile. The Dun Moch had ignited her self-doubt, but defeated and ashamed, the regret at her situation was her own. She only hoped he would show her some mercy.

 

[Viktor Noali]

Objective: Get Unstuck - Dish out some Payback
Location: Spaceport
Allies: One Sith - [member="Vengeance"] - [member="Warok the Defiler"] -
Enemies: The Jedi - [member="Aela Talith"] - [member="Micah Talith"] - [member="Sabena Shai"]

Spoiler

My apologies for the lag in response. I had the very fortunate pleasure of contracting food poising over the 4th of July weekend. Today I don't feel like I am going to die.

---------------


Frozen... Us... Frozen.... I will admit, this is a tad bit ridiculous. Viktor, how about you snap out of this eh? Easier said then done, I would think. He probably would've moved if he could, don't you think? Well, yeah. I guess that makes sense. I got it! Move. Your. Big. Toe. I think I've heard that somewhere before. Really? I thought i was being original. You... weren't.....

His lightsaber shut off as Viktor was thrown to the ground and adeptly mounted by the Jedi who had clung to his boot and expertly froze him. At this point Viktor had begun to be able to wiggle his fingers and toes. The fact that he couldn't move wasn't just frustrating but it was also infuriating. Viktor's anger pulsed through his body and he could swear he felt tendrils of Dark Side energy clawing through him with each accelerated beat of his heart. Viktor couldn't contain the grin the crossed his face when [member="Aela Talith"]'s first fist struck him dead center in his face causing blood to leak from his nose. How could SHE know... Of course, she couldn't.

Viktor's childhood had been spent as a slave to a rather unpleasant trandoshian master who specialized in training pit fighters. Ever since Viktor could remember the fighting pit was his home and melee combat was where he thrived. This Jedi had made a fatal mistake of closing the distance, and engaging this particular Lorrdian teräs käsi expert where he was most dangerous: within arms reach.

Slowly movement continued to come back to Viktor's body as [member="Aela Talith"]'s blows kept raining down on his head. Her strength was obviously boosted by the Force, but Viktor had taken stronger blows and suffered far more intense punishment. This was nothing to him.

When his mobility finally returned to him Viktor reached forward instantly in an attempt to bear hug the Jedi, intending to use his greater physical strength amplified by the Force to hold the Jedi against his body. Once she was close enough Viktor would show her what kind of feral animal she had just encountered. With ferocity he would bite into Aela's neck and rip furiously in an attempt to rip open her throat while also attempting to roll on top of her. He paid no mind to [member="Sabena Shai"] as she charged at him with her lightsaber ablaze, he had absolute confidence in the adorable Sith Ewok.

 

[Darth Timoris]

Objective: Rip up that love letter and force feed it to the Padawan
Location: Outside the Jedi Academy
Allies: Are for losers
Enemies: [member="Zylah Dvale"] (claimed)
Theme: I'll be your fight, be your fail

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uURHEiwfoeY

‘I'm a little selfish with a lot to give
I'm a broken bone, I'm a losing bid
I know you want me in, in my place

I'm damaged bliss, I'm an unknown voice
Make you feel less alone, but I'm not your toy
I know you want me out, out of your face

I can smile for the camera
I can feed you my heart
I can lie lovin' at ya
I can act my part
And it's not the way I wanted it to be
But no one ever asked me
So I smile for the camera
And I act my part
Whoa

Under my skin written in my blood
There's a secret I keep, it's not your love
I know you don't know me at all
I'm a little bit bruised living in the lies
But your hunger for more and I can paint my disguise
I'll be your fight, be your fall.’

She’d lost the momentum but she was an experienced enough dueller not to let it get to her. It would be easy for the shoulders to drop and to believe your chance had gone. But Melori was made of sterner stuff. Plus, in a way, she’d already won. She’d planted a seed that allowed her to water and nurture it in the future. Her Master’s training was not in vain. There was always more than one way to win a duel.

But she sensed a new-found confidence from the Jedi and the pain in her stomach wasn’t going away any time soon – she had to capitalise on it before it incapacitated her. And she sensed the surprise at the new weapon she was now brandishing. It was still a saber but to the uninitiated, it was something more. It would eat away at confidence and add complications when none was necessary. She’d read that was a lesson Bane had been taught early in his career as a Sith and Maul too.

Suddenly the Padawan was on her and Melori was using the fourth Form in an uncharacteristic way, to defend. It was not her natural style with the twin saber and she started to regret her decision to change. Now the self-doubt was creeping into her own fighting abilities.
But at least she recognised this and it galvanized her. As soon as she could she took her right hand off the saber and pointed her fingers at her opponent’s primary hand – the one in most control of the saber. Squeezing her own fingers together, she exerted a telekinetic pressure to her opponent’s hand. If unchecked, it would eventually break all the bones – at very least, it should impact her fighting ability.

“Something my former Master taught me. Once a Sith, always a Sith…”

 

[Micah Talith]

Spaceport - raining on the raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaainnnnnnnn
Allies: [member="Sabena Shai"] | [member="Aela Talith"]
Enemies: [member="Vengeance"] [member="Warok the Defiler"] [member="Viktor Noali"]
Objective: Dance DANCE!

“Kark!” came the sudden curse as the Sith’s blade went swiping straight at him with a wicked slash. It barely missed the tip of his nose, the boy having swung and bent back at the waist, hearing the distinct hum of death ready and waiting to get him.

Granted, cursing did wonders for showing exactly where he was at. Well he was young!

Bent light disappeared, rain fell on the hole of the roof, and Micah would pop back up.

“Hi, Gizka this!” he said, as his own saber hissed to life anew, slashing with an upward strike to hit the Sith from left hip to right shoulder.

 

[Taeli Raaf]

Objective: Rescue a Padawan in trouble
Location: Personal Sicarius-class Infiltrator
Allies: [member="Setzi Lunelle"]
Enemies: [member="Tanek Santii"]

AS the last bandage and bacta patch was applied to her side, Taeli got up and felt a problem in the Force. One of the Padawans she had felt that was facing dun moch was in trouble, and if there was one thing she didn't do, it was leave someone behind to suffer a fate worse than death perhaps.

Wincing as she moved into the cockpit, she turned off the autopilot and reaching out with the Force, located where the girl was. Pulling on the yoke of her ship, she turned around to fly over the area once in stealth mode to get a feel of the situation beyond what the Force gave her. The external cameras showed a Togruta standing over a defeated girl, and Taeli had very few options available to her currently.

Deciding on the only option that might work, she sent a warning in the Force to the Padawan so she would have some sense of what was coming as she turned around in an attack run. The ship decloaked and she pressed the triggers on the yoke. Laser cannon bursts would fly along the ground in a strafing run that was designed to get a lot of space between the Sith and the Padawan, although she hoped the Sith would be stunned from the sudden attack.

Pulling on the yoke, she placed the ship in hovermode over the scene of the fight and lowered the rear ramp. Wincing again, she walked to the edge of the ramp and yelled down to the Padawan, "Come with me if you want to live!"

She sent a telepathic message to the other Padawan she had sensed fighting her sister, [member="Zylah Dvale"], to let her know that she would be circling above the academy if she would need an escape route.

 

[Setzi Lunelle]

Objective: Defend the Academy
Location: Ruusan entrance
Allies: [member="Taeli Raaf"]
Enemies: [member="Tanek Santii"]

Setzi halfway expected a lightsaber blade to come down upon her slender neck. Or perhaps she would have her windpipe crushed by the Togruta. But instead, as the Sith Knight was presumably catching his breath and deciding what to do with her, she heard Taeli Raaf’s mental missive to move out of the way. A second later she heard what sounded like cannon-fire from a ship.

The padawan looked back up at the Sith Knight, and in his distraction, she scrambled to her feet and ran as fast as she could towards the ramp of Jedi Master Raaf’s ship. It was the most welcoming sight of her life! She de-ignited her lightsaber which she was still clutching tightly in her hand.

All Setzi could hear now was the sound of her soft boots hitting the metal of the ramp and the beating of her heart, pounding in her ears. Ahead of her was a beautiful dark-haired Jedi Master who, right about now, felt like her guardian angel. The Jedi also appeared to have a painful wound based on her stance and her knitted brows in concentration.

Setzi would make her way into the ship and immediately she fell in a heap on the floor. She knew there was probably a better place to lay than just right there by the exit hatch, but her energy was completely drained. She watched Master Raaf in awe, wondering how many other padawans she would be able to save from the slaughter and devastation of the Ruusan Academy and the tyranny of the Sith today.

 

[Kenrath]

Objective: Murder and Mayhem
Location: Ruusan Starport
Allies: [member="Warok the Defiler"] [member="Viktor Noali"]
Enemies: [member="Aela Talith"] [member="Micah Talith"] [member="Sabena Shai"]

As soon as Vengeance heard the jedi speak he squared his body towards the sound a smile creeping across his face. The attack was one out of desperation and a fools errand. Vengeance took a step back with his left foot leaning back as the tip of the blade passed barely an inch from his chin but grazing his right shoulder. He growled thankful it was only a graze but pissed he got bit. He took his on saber meeting blade with blade in a parry to force the Jedi's blade to continue upward. Vengeance hoped to create an opening to which he would step forward his left fist coming up toward's Micah's chin in an upper cut.

"You're right a Gizka has more fight in it."

 

[Darth Pyrrhus]

Objective: Fuel the fire
Location: Ruusan entrance
Allies: [member=Tanek Santii]
Enemies: [member=Setzi Lunelle] (claimed)

His fist connected with her side, and the Padawan went down. Tanek could taste victory was close at hand. The Togruta towered over her, looking down at his beautiful prize, as he tried to figure out what to do with her. Even staring at the face of defeat, trapped in a cage of intense pain, the Padawan did not scream, but powered through it. He was impressed. She had endurance. If only she knew how to take that pain, and transform it into power. Through passion, I gain strength.

However, he frowned as she begged for her life. Instinctively, he replied "Those who ask for mercy are too weak to receive it" he was quoting Darth Bane from a passage he had read, of his early days as an Acolyte at the Academy on Korriban. "The weak will always be victims. Only the strong survive, because only the strong deserve to" he recited his mantra to her. Despite what he'd said about her not deserving his mercy, he didn't want to kill her. It wasn't compassion, but he felt that she still had a role to play, a purpose to serve. There was great anger in her. If only he could persuade her to join him and the Sith...

"The Jedi have left you here to die. Are you happy to die for them?" would she face eternal sleep with grace and calm, knowing she had died fighting what she believed in? Or did she feel betrayed, by the very people that were supposed to be her shield and guide ? Tanek was not yet finished tormenting her mind. He held out his hand, as he summoned the Dark Side to do his bidding. The Force tightened around her neck, his red hand gripping at the air as he tried to choke her though the Force. Ideally, he'd want to lift her off the ground, but just managing the task of focusing the Force to clench around her throat was challenging enough. It was not a move he had used in battle before. "Do you feel it? Do you feel the power of the Dark Side?"

His focus was broken and the grip he held on Setzi was released. For a moment, he felt doubt, even fear, as his senses exploded, the Force telling him of an imminent danger. What was going on? There had been no time to react. [member=Taeli Raaf]'s ship fired upon the ground between the two, though much closer to him. A blast hit just before him, which sent the Togruta flying backwards. He quickly crawled back to his feet, but he was backing away. There was no way for him to fight a starfighter, and he was wary of being targeted again. It didn't seem like he would, however, the Jedi's mission being rescuing the Padawan, rather than destroying him.

When Setzi broke off into a run, he knew there was little he could do to stop her, so he didn't try. His crimson blade deactivated. The Padawan escaped his grasp today, but he had a feeling it would not be the last time he laid his eyes on her. The girl might've escaped, but he doubted she would soon forget their duel. A seed had been planted. What would become of it? Would it grow, or would she be cleansed of it from the people who now carried her wounded body home? Oh, if only he could be ever present in her mind, and observe what became of her.

As Tanek watched the ship take Setzi away, his forces made their way out from the Academy. "Report" Tanek said, sounding distant. He could not stop thinking about the Padawan, and struggled to fake interest in what the sergeant was about to say. "Sir... We've taken heavy losses." Not as heavy as mine, was all he could think. "And?" Tanek broke the silence, sounding annoyed. The officer had clearly been expecting some sort of comment, though the Togruta's indifference had not been it. "We were able to plant the charges. We've dealt as much damage to structures and archives as possible, as you ordered, sir." Tanek nodded, driving his gaze from the escaping ship, now growing smaller and smaller. "Good. Our work here is done. Time to go home."