Dominion The Bryn'adûl | Dominion of Nadiem

[Tathra Khaeus]

Tathra watched as the Jedi was flung back several metres, crashing into the broken Oak Tree that now was half buried in the doorway. The Titan lowered his Axe, his guard relaxing as the Jedi rose slightly. The Titan walked slowly toward him, their previous encounter and the small sequence of combat seemed to make it clear to both of them that this was no battle the Jedi could win, he was retreating to regain control - the gate had been unlatched, there was no retreat now as much as physical movement would provide the illusion.

Such foolish ignorance. Through the unity of Tathra's kin - through their ability to seek strength and purge weakness; the Titan could never grow complacent, never grow stagnant. Instead, Quill was here alone because he saw weakness in his kin. Where as Tathra stood strong now, propped up by the strength of his children. The true battle was already fought and won, this was ultimately semantics.

The Jedi leapt to the battlements, it was no surrender - Quill knew there was no true walking away from this bout of combat. It was a strategy, it was only a matter of time before Tathra understood why and what. It was simple calculus.

"Trickster." The Drael growled from the depths of his stomach in his mother-tongue.

Tathra leapt into the air, using sheer strength to rise above the rooftop and landing on the rooftop a metre away from the Jedi, the rock beneath them rumbling as the Titan brandished his Axe.

- Jend-Ro Quill

 

[Jend-Ro Quill]

When a large truck's worth of armored alien jumps into one's immediate sphere of influence, one faces decisions. Those choices require the honed ability to evaluate and choose on a moment's notice. That's true even when one is a precog actively engaged in bending probability. Some things are just that urgent.

Quill could have refused to let Tathra close that distance. A quick preemptive leap back toward the weaker centre of the roof was tempting. But he had the feeling that Tathra would jump very close, and that kind of proximity offered a rare opportunity.

Tathra touched down within easy reach. In the same heartbeat, Quill gave his nearby trap a mental yank. It was a simple metal shell, comparable in size to a grenade. In silence, it zipped toward Tathra's left side from the rooftop about three meters away.

It contained a Yuuzhan Vong singularity mine. On impact, anything within its relatively small 'blast radius' would just plain cease to exist. Quill couldn't sense the biotech mine, but he could certainly feel and manipulate the metal case - and the shard of kyber crystal nestled inside. The kyber was there to make his telekinetic grip more instinctive, easier and quicker to target.

There was one other such mine inside the enclave, on the top floor about ten meters behind and below Quill - a backup plan for the backup plan.

 

[Tathra Khaeus]

Out of the corner of the Titan's periphery; something darted toward him. So little space existed between himself and the Jedi, and yet no defence had been shown - no attack. His gaze thinned, staring at the Jedi. None that he could see; more tricks. Tricks he had no time to decipher, his instincts told him that whatever he'd glimpsed was no doubt where his attention was demanded, yet all the same his body and eyes were fixed on the Jedi. Hundreds of times, Jedi had used their telekinetic gifts to strike from behind, whether with a lightsaber or dropping something on top of him; it was common, however as before Quill had his own twist to his tactics.

His ears honed in on the sound instantly, what was silent to a Human was not to a Draelvasier. Especially one that could selectively deafen themselves to all irrelevant noise. Breath, the chaffing of plate; all were brushed aside - all irrelevant information pushed away. The Jedi had chosen not to defend himself either, his confidence toyed with ignorance. Tathra had not survived over a century of combat through brute force alone.

Tathra's left forearm rose upward, wrist and hand aimed outward with Long-Axe in hand, swinging in a concise movement upward as his right foot came forward to the right side of Quill; at the same time the Compact Shield located on his right gauntlet activated; its four foot radius covering the miniature distance between the two opponents in nanoseconds. In the same motion, Tathra's left foot left the ground, as he would thrust Quill toward where he had once stood as the red vapour trail of the Axe would ignite the singularity mine. Tathra's Axe danced through the air, trailing after his movements; a gush of molten hot red vapour encircling both of them in the wake of the Singularity Mine.

- Jend-Ro Quill

 

[Jend-Ro Quill]

OBJECTIVE B (SOLO)
Tathra Khaeus

The axe's burning vapor ignited the speeding singularity mine, which vanished and took everything inside a one-meter radius with it. That included the bulk of the axe's vapor and probably the axehead too. It certainly included a chunk of the roof's edge and quite a bit of atmosphere.

As Tathra lurched across the small distance between them, Quill went with instinct. The shield shoved him in the direction he'd expected to be pulled by the sudden appearance of a very very tiny black hole.

He let it happen. In fact he amplified it.

The mass of his body slingshotted partway around the tiny airborne singularity just outside the one-metre zone of death. He went flying crazily off the edge of the enclave's roof and tumbled in the grass.

The singularity mine had been moving quite fast - he'd put all his focus on accelerating it, and none on conventional attack and defense. The tiny black hole it became had the same vector and velocity as the mine. It just happened to have enough mass to-

Force be with me.

-erase Tathra from approximately the knees to the solar plexus. Presuming Drael had a solar plexus.

 

[Tathra Khaeus]

The quick blur of movement that was Tathra put the Long-Axe well outside of the reach of the miniature black hole as it ignited. The Titan's eyes grew wide as he stared into the consuming void, it was unlike anything he'd seen before. His eyes flickered from infrared, ultraviolet, electronic, human vision, everything in a attempt to comprehend what he was looking at.

In ultraviolet the light bending scourge nearly blinded him entirely as it warped the very fabrics of light and reality around it as it bolted toward him. Tathra leapt backward, narrowly escaping the abyssal bomb in front of him. The singularity took a large portion of his Compact Shield's front as he narrowly managed to escape its trajectory.

Tathra swerved in the air, landing on his left elbow and pulling his feet around into a crouch as the destructive Singularity was seemingly snuffed out of existence. The Titan growled, satisfied for a moment believing the Jedi to be gone.

No.

That stench, he could still smell him. The Titan rose to his feet almost immediately, but before moving to meet his opponent, Tathra mentally switched to ultraviolet vision to spot the powerful glow of any other Singularity Mines. One, behind him.

- Jend-Ro Quill

 

[Jend-Ro Quill]

OBJECTIVE B (SOLO)
Tathra Khaeus

Quill rolled to a stop in the Nadiem grass, the enclave's yard, not far from the place where Tathra had ripped up the huge tree. He knew in his gut that Tathra was coming, and soon. And right on cue, there was the first huge footfall up on the roof at Tathra stood up.

Quill reached out to the second singularity mine and yanked firmly. If memory served, and memory did, there was a bearing wall more or less right below Tathra - or else his three-ton bulk would have fallen through the roof by now.

Inside the enclave's top floor, the singularity mine hit that wall and ate it alive. It, and a portion of the collapsing stone roof.

Small chance that Tathra could lose a foot in the mess of stone and momentary gravity well. Decent chance the monster could find himself bogged down and temporarily ensnared in stone blocks as part of the enclave began folding itself into the last singularity.

 

[Tathra Khaeus]

As quickly as Tathra spotted the mine, it was on a trajectory course for where he stood. That alone confirmed that the Jedi Master had survived his close encounter with the Singularity device. Tathra was about to have another. He cursed in his mother-tongue before once again, forward and away from the Singularity Mine as it seemingly eviscerated anything holding up his section of the rooftop.

The ground sunk beneath him as suddenly all there was ahead was a thin strip of rooftop between the collapsing area and where the original Singularity Mine had been, it did not support the momentum carried weight of the Titan; crumbling away at his tough as the Titan dropped down; a blanket of collapsing stone burying him as he burst through the second floor of the Enclave, crashing down to the ground floor under several tons of brick and dust.

With a single, wide swing of his arm Tathra flung aside a flurry of rock as he forced himself free; Axe in hand cutting through whatever wasn't thrown aside in his fit of frustration. Tathra's eyes shifted to search for sound vibrations, almost instantly finding the Jedi's heart beat. He moved as close as he could to the Gardens from the inside until reaching the wall. No doubt the Jedi would hear him coming. The entire temple seemed to quake with every step.

Tathra swung outward with his right arm, the kinetic force of his wrist striking the wall shattered it into loose bricks and twisted sheets of interior metal. No more mines, no more tricks.

- Jend-Ro Quill

 

[Micah tol Powl]

Objective A
Wearing: Armor of Boo | Terentatek Ring
Wielding: Broodica's Grimoire | Azi the Amphistaff | Lightsaber
Tags: Ever Dawnracer Maokai Bantam

So these were the Bryn'adul.

The monsters had arrived on the planet with an explosive fury. Quickly, the trenches were filled and the traps that Ever's commandos had set were triggered. He recognized the strategy. He'd seen it before, at Wayland, when Zambrano the Hutt had driven slaves through the Mandalorian mine fields in order to clear the way for the Golden Banner to advance unimpeded.

As the fodder that these beasts drove before them cleared the path with their own lives, the horde charged through the smoke. It's fighting force seemed eager for the blood -- and indiscriminate about whose blood. Their own or otherwise.

Bring his hand up, the boy fidgeted with the ring on his hand. It was unnaturally cold to the touch, almost like metal, even though it had been crafted from bone. The Sith magic bound to it called to him. Beckoned a part of him that he didn't want to dwell upon. A part that was no different from these Bryn'adul.

"Pa oamp tostig an eil ouzh egile..."

The words were authored in the Sith language. The moment that they left his tongue, the boy felt a shadow fall over him. He had given himself over to the Dark Side of the Force. No resistance. No regrets. It was his choice this time.

"Va c'halon ne gare nemet unan..."

The form of the shadow that was cast by the Pantoran's slight frame seemed to twist and contort, expanding outward as it underwent a monstrous transformation, until the silhouette of a terentatek appeared.

A number of arcane signs were made with the fingers of either hand. A prayer to the gods of both the Sith and the Primeval, as the spell that he had started to invoke approached its conclusion.

If the Bryn'adul were to be damned, then they could all be damned together. "Pa oan bihan er gêr an hini a garan."

At the invocation, the shadows around the boy seemed to puff up and swirl. The darkness seemed to animate, as it possessed of malevolent, impish spirits. "Pa oan bihan er gêr an hini a garan," the Pantoran spellweaver intoned again, gathering his concentration. His hands rotated, shifting the obscure gesture so that it pointed outward.

"Pa oan bihan er gêr an hini a garan."

At the command, the shadows seemed to shoot outward, passing over the ground toward the approaching horde. Then, one by one, the tendrils if smoke erupted into thick tendrils of darkness, which whipped out to bludgeon and ensnare whatever it might come in contact with.

What good what would it do?

In the grand scheme of things, not much. But it just might buy Ever's commandos or that Zeltron guy a few extra seconds before they were up to their ears in Bryn'adul.

Hraelga Nacht Primarch Drek'ma Hrajlmak'Natok Sarask Hiskt Galak​

 

[Jend-Ro Quill]

OBJECTIVE B (SOLO)
Tathra Khaeus

"Time bought," Quill mumbled to himself as the Drael patriarch crashed down into the enclave. He flinched at the sound of cracking stone. "Time bought. Alright, then..."

He missed home. Missed his quiet little enclave, a place much like this but embedded in the peak of Mount Ison. Missed the big clear sky of Hoth and the cold at his back and the campfire's warmth on his face. Missed sharing a joint of tauntaun with the local wampa tribes in companionable silence. Missed the peace and stillness of a cold sunrise over the North Ridge.

He sighed and cracked his neck. The frigid heart of Hoth poured into the Force and back out again, or from Hoth to him to this place and time - he couldn't tell which way the feedback loop went. Directionality became irrelevant in the face of unity. He, Hoth, this place, the cold, all became one.

Frost marked his unlit sabers. His breath clouded the air and froze on his moustache. The clouds overhead grew thicker, darker. Sweat froze in his robes and hair, but he felt none of it. Cold numbed the burn on his chest. Snow flurried in the air and snowflakes lingered on the grass.

Quill was no cryokinetic throwing ice spikes or anything along those lines. But he and the Force had brought Hoth's bitterness to the enclave grounds, and he felt right at home.

The Drael mutant bulled through the frost-clad stone wall, all three tons and nine feet of him. At a range of twenty meters, Quill ignited both ice-blue blades.

"Come on then, Tathra."

His words wisped away as shreds of cloud on a merciless breeze.

 

[Ever Dawnracer]

Objective A
Post: 3
Allies: Micah tol Powl | Maokai Bantam
Enemies: Primarch Drek'ma | Galak
Engaging: Hrajlmak'Natok
Gear: See Signature

It came with a monstrous grin that bore little surprise. Whether this was truly their leader or not was of little consequence as the brute tore its way towards her, dealing with the savagery of her rangers as it did so. An explosion rocked the ground near her as one of their artillery rounds burst aflame, igniting the bit of what that grew nearby. Flames lapped up the grain, spreading towards the town behind her, but she didn't so much as flinch at either it or the approaching beast.

Battle was not new to her. It had become her life for some time, facing off against local foes and the First Order, not to mention the Imperials that had once plagued their area of space. Even the monstrous nature of these beasts and their minions didn't phase her. Death was a certainty in life. The people that accepted this, who were prepared to face it, had little to fear. She had long ago accepted that death would come for her on the battlefield. The life of a soldier was not to protect one's self but to protect those who could not protect themselves through the sacrifice of the self. She never expected to live a long life.

These beasts gave themselves away with their own savagery. Even the smile, if it could be called that, that was bared towards her was an indication of what they were. They believed themselves superior. She had met many of their kind before. To an extent, she was their kind. She did, after all, believe her Rangers were one of the superior fighting forces in the galaxy. There was a difference, though. Despite knowing they were exceptionally skilled, she also knew the majority of them would die. These monsters believed themselves superior through both numbers and being. They neglected true strength in favor of the shallow, weaker one that presented itself.

True strength comes not in believing that you are stronger, but in believing you are weaker than everyone else such that you must rise to the occasion rather than becoming complacent.

The creature bore a staff, and as it came towards her it brought the staff down towards her shoulder. She had a split second to make a decision as to whether to surprise the creature in one of two ways, but she knew that this battle wasn't one she could afford to play games with. Thus, as the staff descended, she spun her body towards the beast, and to the side of the staff so it would only be able to collide with air. As she did so, her back approaching his front, no doubt a perilous position, one of her blades licked up the shaft of the weapon, seeking to remove a finger or two from the hands that held the weapon.

She would not be easy prey.

 

[Primarch Drek'ma]

Objective A - Their Last Stand
Post: Two
Tags: Ever Dawnracer | Micah tol Powl | Maokai Bantam | Hrajlmak'Natok | Tathra Khaeus | Galak |

Intriguing. Even at this distance; he could feel the dark magicks at play. An interesting ploy, one that would not delay the endless horde for very long. The defenders were being attacked from within their own city and outside of it. Ahead, behind, above, below and all around them. This would be a slaughter, there was no question about that.

The Primarch was impressed by the machinations of their enemy, perhaps not all their teachings were useless. Yet somehow this Galaxy remained rife with poison, weakness.

The Primarch rested into a meditate state, resting his Staff in open palms as he sat cross-legged; achieving Battle Meditation. Not only would it allow him to bolster their forces and supress the will of those posed against them; but it also allowed the Primarch to maintain a watchful eye over the Warlock himself.

"Do us proud, Warlock Natok."

 

[Galak]

Objective A - Their Last Stand
Post: 2
Tags: Ever Dawnracer | Micah tol Powl | Maokai Bantam
Forces: Drones, Seekers, Savage Drones, Sirracus Wyrm, Brutes
Equipment: Glaive, Radesh Automatic, Bryn Shot

It seemed as though their enemies efforts were truly desperate, focusing almost entirely on the approaching horde of Savage Drones from the Warlock. Galak's forces flooded through any defences in the city, the Sirrcaus Wyrms would find their prey; sinking their toxic teeth into their flesh. The Seekers would almost go unnoticed, travelling just beneath the tunnels surface - exploding with such ferocity that great puffs of dirt and flesh would erupt onto the surface of the great open field.

His own horde of Savage Drones attacked on the surface from the other side, turning many of the areas of entrenched forces into meat grinders. Their enemy would fall swiftly. Yet they continued to fight, even conjuring powerful elemental shades of darkness to delay some great amounts of their drones. The Brutes of the 10th Regiment were no such feeble bluster as the cannon fodder thrown forth.

His Brutes were veterans of many battles, Eshan, Kesh. Outnumbered at both events yet scoured either battlefield. They were scourges that could surmount any obstacle. They moved in their heavy plate, carrying weapons akin to his own; fail fires of spikes that'd chew through armour were supported by the explosive bound-shrapnel explosives of the Bryn Shots carried by their heavies.

Galak hadn't even fired a single shot yet. Perhaps the truest bane of being a Marauder was not being offered the opportunity to do so. The Marauder raised his gauntlet; "Find me whoever is casting the shades, I need something to kill."

 

[Maokai Bantam]

OBJECTIVE A - The Last Stand
Kit- in Bio and CRYO-GUN from this post and offered to defenders by Jend-Ro Quill
ATTACKERS - Galak Primarch Drek'ma

"By the force what are these things?"

Mako watched in disbelief as beast that would scare the death off a sith spawn ripped through the defenses. Like lumps of horned meat they threw themselves at the defenses only to have more fill the void and claw over their bleeding bodies. These things had a mindlessness that was usually only seen in droids.

"Get these folks back, toward the center, keep low, move!"

He watched as the few settlers who stayed run from the battle. The Bryn'adul had them surrounded like the maws of a great monster, continuing to close in and crush them to a bloody pulp. As a crying child fell he ran over and picked the kid up.

"You ok, good see that tower over there. Head on over i'll be there in a minute."

He watched as the kid disappeared into the crowd understanding that he would most likely never see him again. All hope of rescue was near gone. All he had left was his duty to try keep these folks alive a little while longer.

 

[Hrajlmak'Natok]

Objective: A
Post: 3
Units:

Spoiler

Savage Drones
Drones
Brutes
Rhivaks
Skags

Tags: Tathra Khaeus / Hraelga Nacht / Primarch Drek'ma / Sarask Hiskt / Galak // Micah tol Powl Ever Dawnracer / Maokai Bantam

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The nimble blade slid up to the staff's neck where Hrajlmak's dominant, melted hand held a grip. The lack of a healthy carapace over his right hand meant the blade passed straight through his pinky claw unhindered, only stopping halfway through the next finger. Hrajlmak uttered a pained growl and lurched forward into the woman's back, letting go of the staff's tail-end and wrapping his arm around her chest in a short tackle. With all his weight he attempted to bring her to the floor. If she wasn't simply crushed under his weight, he would have her in the perfect place to deliver a critical blow.

Further away, the trenches of the frontline had been all but wiped out. Hrajlmak's infantry moved quickly toward the farming town. Mounted Brutes made first contact at the opposite side to Galak's own troops. They would continue to work their way through until rendezvousing with the 10th, shredding whatever defense they came across. Behind them, drones and their lesser counterparts were tasked with weeding out what life remained in the war-torn hovels.

 

[Ever Dawnracer]

Objective A
Post: 4
Allies: Micah tol Powl | Maokai Bantam
Enemies: Primarch Drek'ma | Galak
Engaging: Hrajlmak'Natok
Gear: In Signature

Her blade sliced clean through a claw. As it was want to do, it drained some of the great beasts energy and transferred it through the blade to her. The Ahktar were more than just simple blades, the monster would find. Not only were they incredibly strong, but they had other properties to them. And they sang with each swing, permeating the air with humming to signify impending danger. In her mind, she could feel the agreement with the situation that the blades had. This was as the Force willed. These creatures were not obeying the will of the Force and as a result, her case against them was deemed righteous by the blades.

The beast attempted to grab her, but he would find himself unable to do so as the anti-concussion field wouldn't allow his arm close enough to create a firm grasp. He was able to fall atop her, but the field did allow her some wiggle room to squirm. That little bit of wiggle room was all she really needed. His weight was oppressive, even in the armor she was feeling the pressure building, but she was more than just her size, and the beast was about to find out just how dangerous she really was. That loss of a pinky was really nothing.

It was time to utilize The Resolute Way.

Drawing the Force into herself, she concentrated it into her body until it flowed through her veins, melded with her muscles, became one with her bones. Her entire body, each muscle, organ, and tissue, became a conduit for the Force itself. It strengthened her, made her stronger than normal. Facedown as she was with the beast atop her, she put her hands against the ground, fingers still wrapped around the hilts of her blades, and pushed upward. His weight, though great, was no longer enough to pin her to the ground. She would lift the both of them, looking for just a scant meter of space in front of her that would allow her to flip her body so she was face up and slip out from beneath him.

She was not without her tricks.

 

[Tathra Khaeus]

BURN​

When Tathra locked eyes with the Jedi; the twin blue blades ignited. The Titan rose from the shattered wall of the Enclave, coming out into the fresh and unnaturally cold air. Hot vapour left his mouth as he exhaled, eyes looking down to it before rising once again. It seemed as though somehow his opponent was using the force to augment the world around them. It was force-bound, unnatural and subsequently far less effectual than being amidst the cold itself.

The gold underlay of his armour was formed of Kraelmundr, an incredibly force resistant material; his bones permeated with the chemical variant of that very same metal; waves of force repellent energy twisted with the boiling heat of his flesh. The molten vapours of his Long-Axe acting as a cloak of heat, Tathra was a gaping hole where the force would find little influence.

Opaque eyes stare to and through the Jedi Master. His eyes flickering through his vision modes one last time to ensure the area was clear before returning to the standard. Colour refilled his vision, the blue of the Jedi's blades seemed to permeate through the snow as it fell. Tathra remained cleansed, every flake seemed to melt as it burned against his flesh.

Tathra retained the distance between them, the Jedi seemed to understand even if only instinctively that he couldn't kill him. He just hadn't accepted it yet. The Titan held the Long-Axe just above the middle length of the shaft, swinging at the waist as he released a massive molten kinetic wave into the garden, at and around Quill.

He had no intention of hitting his opponent; but surely enough every piece of flora would burn to cinders, almost everything in sight was set alight. This wasn't the old man's territory, this garden would burn like the rest of the Galaxy would and there was nothing the Jedi could do other than delay his own death.

As the fire of his wrath consumed all, the thundering footfalls of the Titan would approach the Jedi.

- Jend-Ro Quill

 

[Jend-Ro Quill]

A wave of cold air diffused and blunted the superheated vapor. The temperature plummeted and stayed there, stifling the flames. Quill had zero doubt that the cold would take hold of Tathra Khaeus in short order, if he had his species' congenital weakness anyway. Force-nullification had its limits, primarily when the damage came indirectly, from something the Force had moved or altered. That was why you could still take down Yuuzhan Vong just fine with lightning or a thrown rock or a blast of deep cold like this one. No, in Quill's estimation, Tathra was dead on his feet if Quill could hold out a little longer.

Well, maybe more than a little. So far Quill had hit him with a lightsaber, two black holes, and half a Jedi Temple - without apparent effect. A dry, passive-aggressive voice in the back of his mind suggested that maybe he should have brought a superlaser.

The burn down his chest was numb, but it still made him wince as he broke into a sprint, closing the final distance between them. He went for broke and zigzagged in low, aiming to punch a saber or two through whatever the armor didn't cover.

 

[Tathra Khaeus]

The impeding assault of the Jedi spoke of newfound confidence. Indeed, the frost gnawed at his faculties but not nearly to the lengths the Jedi might've expected to give him some great advantage. The molten vapour echoed volcanic flame - and whilst its reach was limited by the Hoth frost born of the Jedi; the molten vapour that surrounded the Axe was dense, strong. Strong enough to melt the skin of lesser creatures and thusly protected the Titan from the cold. The ground beneath and around him was still lit with fire, yet as the Jedi approached; where he stood brought a frost.

Even the coldest of ice could not contend with the fire in his heart. If Quill wanted the frost to do his work for him, he'd have to disarm the Titan.

Tathra had already crossed a fair distance; a metre with every step as the Jedi came close. All around them now was a mixture of flora; no walls but for about ten metres back. As the Jedi came close, Tathra assumed a guarded stance; his dominant left held the Long-Axe by the mid-length of the Axe - upper torso slightly lurched with his right hand free. His footwork brought the left forward aligned with his crimson paw gripping the Axe. The Shield even in its damaged form was still a reliable source of protection, however it remained retracted within its placement on the right gauntlet for the moment.

When the Jedi drew within the two and a half metre range of the Long-Axe; he swung downward from left to right aiming for the left side of Quill, turning the Axe downward with his wrist in the motion of the swing; thusly bringing the shaft diagonally upward, the pommel just underneath his right arm. The blow intended to make the Jedi move - no doubt he wished to get close.

- Jend-Ro Quill

 

[Jend-Ro Quill]

Now, in theory, Quill could block Tathra Khaeus ' axe - in theory, but it would expend far more energy than he had to spare. And more importantly, that superheated vapor trail could roast him if he tried. He grimaced and stalled himself short. The axe whipped past in front of him, and he kept the stray vapor off him with a cold Force push. Closing the distance between them posed severe challenges. More and more he felt like he'd squandered an opportunity on the roof. He should have just activated his sabers point blank and tried to find a gap.

A gap-

The thought crystallized in a heartbeat. He'd tried and failed to find a chink in Tathra's combination of living and metal armour. Maybe his Force negation had a weak point. It wasn't like Tathra had a ysalamir strapped to his back, after all. Some kind of Void Stone inplant, maybe? Or - chilling possibility - genetic engineering? But no, this wasn't a moment for distraction.

Trusting the Force, Quill backed up and just pushed again. He couldn't get a grip on Tathra's body, nor on the armor so close to it. But he felt some telekinetic purchase on that axe. More, he felt the Force in it. Some alchemist had made it a channel for the Dark Side, with features Quill couldn't guess.

Tathra's grip was, of course, monstrously strong. And alchemical weapons didn't break easily, but...

Well, Quill didn't have time to ponder this net of ideas that had occurred to him. He had far more pressing business, like the Drael patriarch four meters away and closing.

 

[Micah tol Powl]

Objective A
Wearing: Armor of Boo | Terentatek Ring
Wielding: Broodica's Grimoire | Azi the Amphistaff | Lightsaber
Tags: Ever Dawnracer | Maokai Bantam

"Pa oan bihan er gêr an hini a garan."

Atop the boy's shoulders, the snake-like head of the amphistaff stared outward with it's dead, obsidian-like eyes.

"Pa oan biha..."

An amphistaff was not a snake, it was a creature of an altogether different biology. It didn't hiss. Often times, it gave a more mewling or barking sound. Now, was resonated from out of the biot was a low, rumbling growl. Static crackled along its length, as it opened its maw to reveal fangs dripping with venom.

At the sound, the boy stopped the incantation. The shades faded away, as the spellweaver's eyes peered out at the monsters moving over the trenches. The battle was upon them.

The time had come to read from the book.

Reaching into the satchel that he carried at his side, the boy withdrew a leather-bound grimoire. As if dark spirits were inviting him, the pages fell open on the accused spell. It was the Dwomutsiqsa. The summoning of demons.

The boy's hand touched the pages. As he did, the ring on his hand became, at once, piercingly cold. The sensation bit into the flesh and bones, as if burning him. And, from out of the magics inherent, the gibbrish before seemed to move around until it became readable to him.

"Woyunoks hadzuska koshûjontû," he called, reading aloud the first line of the incantation.

Even Ever and Maokai were apt to feel the power of the Dark Side that was laiden in those words. The darkness of the shade-like tendrils, evaporated, as shadows and smoke began to swirl around the Pantoran's form. A Sith rune appeared on the ground beneath him, as the boy continued reading, though his words seemed stolen away into the maelstrom of darkness that was starting to move through the farming village.

Something wicked this way came. And it wasn't the Bryn'adul.

...well, not just the Bryn'adul anyway.