Private Showdown on Azura

[Bendak Crail]

Filled with a violent rage as it seemed Bendak was being given the slip. Turning around, the signature that he followed from before, had all but disappeared instead another one was felt much closer to the ship. Turning around he tried to make his way back to the Night Vulture as quickly as possible. Using the Force, to increase his speed back to the Night Vulture, the sprint came to a grinding halt upon first seeing a hooded figure. When the robe was removed the figure revealed to be a woman. Bendak eyed her with curiousity as she spoke.

Upon telling him that she was able to finally meet him, brandishing what seemed to be two violet blades. Bendak merely stood there for a moment, his helm showing no signs of emotion, but beneath the mask lied a mixture of emotions. Be it curiousity, or as before a deep rage for the events that have transpired since returning to the ash ridden hellhole known as Mustafar there was nothing but a tension fueled silence.

“Yes, at last I can kill the Jedi that has caused so much trouble…” He said as he felt the dark whispers of his Master’s blade edge him on even deeper into a rage. Doing his best to ignore it, he brought out his own Crossguard saber, with a hiss the red blade emerged followed by the formation of the Crossguard. He at first welcomed her with a bow of his saber as the tension was so thick it was threatening to burst out.

Finally Bendak made the first move with a yell as he charged her. Like his Master, Bendak swung his saber as if wielding a hammer bashing into her blades with heavy strikes. Using his weight, and aided by the force to launch a series of heavy handed power attacks. His first opening moves filled with the rage he could no longer contained, in an attempt to gain an early advantage in the duel. With each strike it was followed by a step forward, with the direction of his blade made attempts for her head, her weapon hands, or her chest as he tried to gain control over the duel his style reminiscent of Djem So.

Valery Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

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Location: Aruza​

Valery: Appearance​

Outfit: Factory Link​

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Tag: Bendak Crail ​

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Valery watched as Bendak ignited his crimson crossguard, and felt the wave of emotion from him through the Force. It wasn't just anger that she felt, but an intense hatred and rage, mixed with his sincere desire to kill the woman who had been hunting him since Mustafar. Immediately, Valery adjusted her stance and bent her knees more, readying herself to move as he clearly prepared himself to attack. ​

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His emotions betrayed his intentions, but he likely did not care.​

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When the Knight of Ren finally launched himself towards her with a yell of rage, Valery took note of his style of fighting. She was a Jedi Battlemaster, so his use of Djem So was obvious to her, and meant that she had to be careful. The Form was powerful, and when driven by rage, even more brutal. ​

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The first swing came down towards her head like a hammer, and in response, Valery augmented herself to heighten her speed and strength, allowing her to meet his swing with great power of her own. Raising her blades up, they connected with crimson plasma but she had no intentions of maintaining a blade lock, instead choosing to angle her twin blades to deflect his attack away and to the side. ​

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Another set of swings followed, but the woman kept up her defenses, and finally jumped up and over Bendak, as a powerful horizontal swing came for her torso. After making her landing, however, she decided to continue her use of Ataru and closed the distance with Hawk-bat-like speed. Her blades came around parallel to each other and aimed to strike across the man's back in a diagonal sweep.​

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The battle had truly begun.​

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[Bendak Crail]

Even for a Knight of Ren, Bendak was in prepared for how fast the woman would move. Like most of the Knights they weren’t trained as the Sith. While adopting much of the similar techniques and styles associated with the Sith they fought as if the dark side was a blunt instrument to them. With Bendak’s heavy handed swings of his Crossguard saber, at first the woman seemed surprise by the amount of force, but responded in kind with her own sabers and started to counter his own moves.

As if her own opening moves carried a Soresu type defense, the dull ground they fight on were lit with golden flashes of violet and crimson. The crackle of blade against blade, and the smell of the ionized air that came with it overwhelmed the senses. Adrenaline and anger flooded his system, where he thought one move would turn into a blade lock would cease, with the Jedi Woman jumped behind, barely having time to position his saber to his back, able to block one of the violet blades but in return carried a slice shredding into the black mixture of armor and robes.

He roared in pain, as he stepped away quickly to gain with what little distance he could from the woman. Excruciating pain had started to cloud his vision, he gritted his teeth beneath the mask and with a yell charged her once more. Starting off with a ferocious falling avalanche strike, where he would break the first defense of her sabers, he kept both feet in front, with each powerful swing of his arms he would dare take another step, pain and rage only continued to fuel his power, as he further attempted to break down the defenses that came with being accustomed to Jar’Kai.

With one hard strike, he attempted to deceive her into a blade lock, before quickly deactivating his saber in a trakata move. Letting her sabers move right past him, activating once more where the Crossguard was close enough to cut into her right cheek.

Valery Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

​

Location: Aruza​

Valery: Appearance​

Outfit: Factory Link​

Lightsabers: Link!​

Ship: Factory link​

Tag: Bendak Crail ​

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Blade clash after blade clash, the intensity of the duel was rising quickly. The powerful attacks from Bendak's form were met with speed and agility from the woman, who was growing more confident in her abilities to overcome this threat. As powerful as he was, she hadn't singled him out to fail in her mission now. ​

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Soon, part of the Master's attack was able to land against his back, causing a jolt of pain that further fueled his hatred and desire to kill. He came for the woman with powerful attacks, fueled by rage as a result. But Valery remained calm and opted for evasion rather than meeting the attacks head-on. As strong as she was, especially when augmented by the Force, blocking powerful strikes in Jar'kai was not the easiest.​

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So instead, she weaved, jumped, and danced to avoid a lot of his strikes, while others were expertly deflected by clever angles in her parries. She knew it was going to be demanding for him to maintain his onslaught, and that another opening would soon present itself. But first, she had to allow him to burn himself out in his rage.​

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Jumping back, Valery narrowed her eyes as he came for her again, raising his blade to have it come crashing down towards her head. But as it moved to strike, and she prepared to block, her precognitive skills glimpsed into the web of possibilities that is the future, and she caught on to his true intentions just in time.​

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As his blade disengaged, Valery pulled her body back to step to his side, causing only the vent of his crossguard to graze her cheekbone and cheek, leaving her with a small cut. She gritted her teeth and in response, jumped up with even greater power than before. Spinning around, she sought to use her rotational momentum to sweep his arm off at the wrist with a power cut.​

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Following this attack, whether it hit or not, she channeled the Force explosively into her right foot, as it came off the ground to kick and launch the Knight of Ren away, coincidentally into the direction of his ship. She hoped to create some distance, and prepare herself to finish it.​

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The fierceness in the woman had risen.​

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[Bendak Crail]

Bendak was lost within a haze of his own rage, blade against blade, swing after hard swing met against her blocks. For a time it seemed that Bendak was working with his offensive in driving back the Jedi, but unlike other Jedi he faced something seemed off… something had seemed old to the way she carried herself. At first he chalked it up as if she had more experience in dueling but there was something else of which he couldn’t quite place his finger on.

He could only let out a growl as while he managed a cut on her cheek, she avoided his heavy handed strikes with relative ease. Once more it shows that the Knights of Ren had a more barbaric fighting style nothing refined or shown elegance but driven by murderous intent. With such a growl he e attempted to launch once more a series of power strikes against her form. Even if he were to tire out, her defense would not last forever against such animalistic rage.

Unfortunately with his next series of heavy strikes caught his blade in a twisting lock. Unable to fully maintain such a grip, he let out a cry of pain as the vambrace around his wrist was sliced open, causing a trickle of blood to slowly drip, flowed by a force enhanced kick that caused a grunt from his lips. The kick sending him flying back against the bulkhead of the Night Vulture, his saber shutting off as quickly as it activated from his hand. The crimson blade disappearing as the hilt was sent sliding across the floor.

Bendak shook his head slowly. He yelled out to his adversary. “I will not be beaten by the likes of you!!” In that moment he did the unthinkable. He heeded the call of his Master’s lightsaber, slowly standing up he gripped the long hilt of the saberstaff. The Jedi Woman would feel an even more sense of unease, the dark presence unleashed as two crackling unstable red blades merged from the emitter following two Crossguard vents. Bendak then proceeded to get into a stance staring at the woman with deadly intent.

Valery Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

​

Location: Aruza​

Valery: Appearance​

Outfit: Factory Link​

Lightsabers: Link!​

Ship: Factory link​

Tag: Bendak Crail ​

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After landing her augmented kick, she watched his body impact the bulkhead of the ship, causing him to drop his weapon in the process. While the fight had been brutal and demanding, as was to be expected, she felt that it was finally winding down towards a conclusion. None of the blows she had landed were overly crippling, but they represented the balance of the fight to her, and his rage firing up only more was surely going to work against him. ​

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As much as Sith or Dark Siders could draw strength from their emotions, it could also blind them.​

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Seeing him rise back up to his feet, Valery began to move back towards him, her blades drawn low at each side of her body. Her eyes had something fierce to them and her body language very clearly showed her intentions — she was coming to end the fight for good. ​

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But then the Knight of Ren called out, and slowly brought out the artifact she had been after since the start. Immediately, the woman stopped moving and narrowed her eyes at him. Unstable crimson blades ignited and with this weapon of rage in his hands, Bendak steadied himself into a combative stance that invited her to engage or prepared him to take the initiative.​

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"You don't know what you're doing," Valery said as she felt the sickening darkness from the weapon. Normally, inanimate objects tainted by the Dark Side were not as corrupting as Dark Siders, nor did they feel as nauseating, but this artifact stood out to here. He believed to draw on a weapon that could grant him more power, but she believed him to be a fool for using it.​

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"But it matters not, this ends now."​

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Only the Light could vanquish the darkness, so as the woman approached with blinding speed, the Force began to flow around her in streams of visible light, the tendrils shifting around her limbs and converting towards her hands. When she was finally close enough, a hand came forward to release a single but powerful withering blast of Force Light towards him. ​

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Hoping this attack was able to stun him, she launched herself off the ground and came down towards him with a powerful sweep from her right blade, the intent fully to cut him down.​

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[Bendak Crail]

Bendak felt immense power flow through him while the blade in his hand gave off a hum. Every other minute the blade would give a crackling sound as if pure rage made the weapon unpredictable. While he felt power, the Jedi before him seemed as if she was afraid by the artifact itself. He smirked underneath the mask as the weapon itself he was astonished by how powerful it all really was to him.

He waited for her, when she said that he had no idea what he was doing. It was as if he could hear the same fear from her. It all changed quickly as that fear had turned very grim as she readied herself. For all intents and purposes Bendak was not trained in the use of a saberstaff, but regardless he would show her all the rage she caused him.

First she used speed against him, he stood like hard stone. Awaiting to see what she would try next as her entire being had turned to light. A blast came forth to strike him, causing an attempt at swirling the blade in a circular position as if to drive off the light. For a moment he was blinded, he couldn’t see.

In his most vulnerable, a blade was so close he could feel the heat. That was when he regained his sight. Stepping back, he caught the blade he could feel with one of the blades of the staff. A sloppy opening move on his part, as he attempted to put distance between her and himself.

He stumbled a little, as he twirled the blade around on both ends to catch the onslaught. Letting loose an animalistic growl as he attempted to launch an assault of his own. With each crash of his blade, he attempted with the long reach of the staff to keep her arms stretched thing. With the close grip, he kept pushing back against her, this time the form no longer seemed that of an amateur, but rage and darkness guided him. It all seemed clear as if he was mastering the weapon despite no skill with its kind.

With his counter attack, he now tried to push to have his blade catch hers into the Crossguard vents, following by a powerful kick from his right leg to her ribs. His next move would be trying to disarm her from her lightsabers and finishing her off with the pure might of Kyrel’s Harbinger.

Valery Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

​

Location: Aruza​

Valery: Appearance​

Outfit: Factory Link​

Lightsabers: Link!​

Ship: Factory link​

Tag: Bendak Crail ​

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While attacking with Force Light hadn't struck him at his corrupted core, it had blinded him for just a moment, which she hoped to exploit. Her blade came down but at the very last second, he was able to defend himself and gradually, his sloppy start with the new weapon began to transition into better flowing flurries of attacks. For many years, however, Valery's preferred weapon had been the double-bladed lightsaber. She was in the process of crafting a new one, but it meant she knew how to fight one as much as she knew how to use one.​

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This helped her in keeping up with the sudden shift in power that overtook her opponent, allowing her to adjust. She still felt confident that she could beat him, but any sudden change to an enemy was always a risk one had to be careful with. Confidence should not result in underestimating an opponent.​

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Thus, the battle raged on, the two fighters exchanging blows and parrying each other's attacks — it was fast-paced, brutal and both knew only one of them was going to be leaving this world alive. There was no going back, no option for retreat. Just a fight until the end.​

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But then he pressed to counter, and her blade was caught by the vent of his staff. Her eyes briefly widened, and she gritted her teeth knowing this meant trouble. Before she could respond, though, his kick struck her ribs and she was sent flying back. While she caught herself mid-air and transitioned into a proper landing, she could feel a jolt of pain shoot through her ribcage. She had likely been bruised, and maybe even broken a rib. ​

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It didn't matter.​

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Something changed in the woman, who now looked even more fierce towards her opponent. The Force began to flow through her body, allowing her to completely ignore the pain, and instead fight with more strength and speed. Both the body and mind were augmented, and with immense speed, she came back towards him, her attacks precise and calculated; her advance overall calm. She didn't lose herself in rage or hatred — she simply fought with fiery focus.​

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Several strikes were aimed at him, targeting limbs and body, but all of them were a diversion for her true intentions. She hoped to bait out his attack, his desire to disarm or kill her. But as his attack inevitably came for her, she channeled the Force and altered her body's connection to the environment, allowing her to Phase through his attack and body in an attempt to get behind him.​

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From this new position, she lashed out with her lightsabers again, attempting to strike at his legs to cripple him and send him to the floor, incapable of moving. If it were to be successful, she knew she'd be able to end this fight.​

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[Bendak Crail]

The duel between Jedi and Ren had heated in intensity, with at first it seemed that Bendak carried an upper hand with the unique weapon it’s dark power of rage fueling him, with each clash between the violet and crimson blades caused a bright glow, and inbetween the clash he could see a moment of fear truly come out when he had caught her blades into the Crossguard vents stopping her reach only a moment. He even thought that his kick would send her flying, and while it did for a moment the Jedi Master seemed to land gracefully and with ease.

An eyebrow was raised at first, as he let out a violent filled roar as he attempted to strike back. His blades crossing with hers but within the next series of attacks, Bendak noticed something strange. Even with her skills with two blades she started to push back against him. Instead of being on the offensive he was forced to fall back on the defensive. Albeit his style was more clumsy then the refined swordsmanship he showed with the unique ferocity inherent with the dark side. The Jedi at first showed a bit of her own darkness which only caused him to wonder what she was doing.

Her strikes attempted to hit his limbs, only causing him to constantly step back while she kept pushing forward. He kept arcing, spinning his blade around to intercept her strikes only to gain an opening long enough to lash out once more. Just when he thought he would have his blade stab into her chest. To his astonishment his blade went right through her, no blood not even the sizzle of flesh when a saber strikes through it. In the end there was only nothing.

He hesitated to even retract the blade from her, too curious of what kind of sorcery she attempted. In that moment he felt a searing pain through his legs. The blade of pure rage ended up knocked from his very fingers, and he let out a cry in pain as he was sent to the floor. He tried to get up but couldn’t move. As he tried to crawl, he looked to his Crossguard lightsaber and attempted to reach out for it. He couldn’t stand, he couldn’t walk he could only crawl to the Night Vulture. Looking back at her, the words finally escaped his lips. “What are you??”

Valery Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

​

Location: Aruza​

Valery: Appearance​

Outfit: Factory Link​

Lightsabers: Link!​

Ship: Factory link​

Tag: Bendak Crail ​

​

Valery watched as the crimson blade approached and her body began to phase — it was an extremely risky maneuver because even the slightest mistake would result in instant death for her. But she was experienced and skilled, allowing her to successfully step through his attack and end up behind him. As she turned, she noticed her trick had the desired attack. He was confused as to what just happened and was left completely exposed.​

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Without any hesitation, the violet plasma cut deep into his legs, sending him down to the floor. She had likely severed enough muscle that he wasn't going to get up, which was only confirmed further as he tried to crawl towards the weapon that had fallen just inside the Night Vulture.​

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"What are you?" the masked figure asked as Valery approached from behind, a blade drawn at each side and her eyes fiercely focused down on her target.​

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"The end of the line for you," she answered as she stepped into striking range before he got his hand to his weapon. She looked at the man for a second longer but nothing was going to hold her back from completing her mission. It wasn't about anger, revenge, hatred, or anything personal — she was here simply for her duties.​

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"May you rest peacefully, one with the Force again." ​

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Valery then stepped forward, raised her lightsabers, and jabbed both down through the man's back, one through the heart from behind and the other between the shoulder blades, killing him instantly. As his body stopped moving and she felt his life force fading, the woman withdrew her blades and clipped the hilts back to her belt. She then took a deep breath and calmed herself fully with a long exhale, as the adrenaline from battle began to settle.​

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Her task, however, was not yet fully complete. ​

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Slowly her eyes turned for the double-bladed weapon he had dropped earlier, the relic she had been looking to purge. With slow steps, she walked over towards it and stared down while her senses made sure the other Knight of Ren wasn't nearby. He wasn't, so with her hand she reached for the weapon, preparing to channel the Light to purge it for good.​

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But as she got closer, something reached out to her and connected with her mind from afar. The woman's vision blanked and without being able to stop it, her mind was drawn into a vision...​

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[Kyrel Ren]

The cursed weapon of Kyrel Ren… the weapon itself spoke the Jedi Woman’s name as if tempting her with promises of power, whispering in her ear of untapped anger and fury just dying to be released. When her mind went into the depths of the force, she was welcome to the sight of several images. Images that shown who the Master of the Knights of Ren was. As if she traveled years in the past and saw images of First Order Stormtroopers, of Star Destroyers above the skies of occupied planets, and images of Kyrel. The form that she saw was a young man cloaked in a blood red cape, and armor that looked Sith in design. The Crossguard staff cutting down innocent people, even children. The sight would shake her to her very core, even standing with a mixture of stormtroopers, and blacked cloaked figures. Those of which she could only speculate as other Knights of Ren.

Images and scenery kept changing, showing the young master cutting down a Jedi Master in the battle in the darkness of space, another image showing the fiery hell of Mustafar where the Jedi Master’s crystal was bled and made into the saberstaff of which she held. The terror of this violent imagery only continued to persist. If only increased in intensity. It showed one side haunted by what seemed to be a figure, a woman cloaked in blue… a saber of green in her hands. The images becoming more confusing as the woman in question hung over Kyrel. As if a shining beacon, it all turned into a bright light that would cloud Val’s own vision. Soon as if thunder clapped the light faded away.

Terror appeared in the blue woman’s eyes as her form was slowly taken by the shadowy form of the ancient Sith known as Darth Vader. The horrible mechanical breathing bounced like an echo, as the dark shadow appeared over Kyrel. As if the Sith Lord’s dark legacy had spread centuries after his redemption, twisted and malformed into a new evil.

Various images kept appearing, more image s of his past. Countless worlds being conquered, the Imperial flag reigning across the galaxy, and the handsome face that once was became sickly pale compared to earlier. Until the images came to a head, The Master of Ren locked in combat with a Sith Lord before appearing as if dead. The man now a corpse, the next image followed about by a scream in terror, as it showed the Master of Ren on a table, various trinkets and amulets around him, his face unrecognizable as it appeared in a twisted stitched and monstrous shape. Before him two dark figures and all around his body were deep stitches. As if she saw his death and return from the grave.

There she stood again in a dark landscape, and there he was. Looking right at her, his voice echoing in a sinister tone. Cloaked in dark robes, his face covered in what some would describe as a death mask. His eyes on her, as if she stood before the man himself he said. “You cannot hide…. There is no life in the void…. Only death…” As if the message conveyed that he had seen her, was aware of her and shown what he had seen beyond the boundaries of life.

The vision wrapped on confusion and sheer terror ended. Kyrel himself lost in meditation at first, his eyes snapped open. He seen the Jedi, he felt the death of Bendak. So much so the objects around him, once afloat had dropped suddenly in a moment of anger. The last of the old and the first of the new Knights of Ren were dead. His fist clenched tightly as his thoughts were filled of the Jedi Woman he saw before. With his sights set on invading the core worlds of the alliance a new target dawned. One he would see burn along with the rest of the Alliance.

Valery Noble