The Forests of Lujo

[Qhorin Solas]

This is a one-v-one battle.

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The Forests of Lujo ​

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Lujo was one of the most beautiful planets I had ever visited. Its landscapes were breathtaking, from the rolling hills and grasslands of its sweeping plains, to the lush forests and majestic mountains, tall and strong like stone fists thrust forth from the earth. Vast oceans separated its continents, as clear and blue as the temperate sky. There was something sanctimonious about the planet - something unquantifiable - that soothed the doubts I felt about my mission.

I always had doubts when I was sent to kill Jedi. Call it nostalgia - the remnants of the ancient Jedi Knight Cronos Aegir lived deep in my mind, revealed through dreams as illuminating as they were violent. I served the Inquisition, however, and as an Inquisitor, I lived only to kill. By order of the First Inquisitorial Edict, any and all Force-adepts were subject to Imperial Law, which therein stated that aforementioned Force-adepts could either serve the Empire as Inquisitors, or die.

I was birthed by the Empire to serve the Empire. I enjoyed life - clung to it, reveled in it, and I did not care to see it end. I chose to live, and in doing so, I also chose to kill.

I landed my Naginata in a clearing near the base of a large mountain, its jagged peaks casting long shadows over the forest. Reports had indicated that a Force-adept was on this very planet, for reasons yet unknown. With the Force as my guide, I would find him...

And I would kill him.

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@[member="Jericho"]​

 

[Jericho]

After hearing about an ancient jedi temple on this planet Jericho could not resist but to go to gain more knowledge and the way of the force. It was time for him to leave the high paced planet city of the republic to go to this more slow paced and quiet planet called Lujo. Coming down from his transport he could see just how vast and exotic the beautiful planet was. He walked through the forests and examined it's wildlife and studied the landscapes, the tall trees with their long green leaves. Animals similar to monkeys but with four arms and eight eyes leaped great lengths from tree to tree. Jericho followed their lead and took great leaps, mimicking the movements of the monkeys with out the help of the force. While he jumped and made his way to the temple he of course took in the sights, the large waterfalls, the open landscapes, he could smell the scents from the air.

After some time of following to where the force was strong, he had finally reached his destination. The jedi temple was far from it's old glory, it was broken down with signs of an old battle. Nature took it's course with vines and trees growing through parts of the old temple and at the entry way animals quickly retreated deeper into the darkness of the temple. Wearing his thick brown robes with the hood up covering the upper part of his face, and under his robes light armor. The jedi walked quietly through the halls of the abandoned ancient temple, the sounds echoed through the halls with each step. The force was strong here and he could feel that, a good place to gather energy. He came across the old archive, he placed a hand on a old broken down table feeling only dust gathered over time.

From what he could tell there was no physical or martial knowledge to be gain here, all the systems were too old and to cryptic for him to turn on. So there was only one thing the jedi could do to gain anything from this venture of his. Mediation. He was going to take his time becoming one with the force, becoming more strong from it so that he can protect the order, it's people, and whoever needed protecting. As a rogue, he of course did things his own way, not only did he wish to become strong in the way of the force to protect. He did so to take down those of the dark side and willing to do things the order will not to maintain order and peace in the universe. And so he went out outside and sat taking in the strong measure of the force from the temple.

Breathe in and breathe out, breathe in and breathe out, allow the force to flow through you like a stream of a constantly moving river. I must relax myself and take in all the life energies. What's this?

For hour he had meditated until there was something, a disturbance, in the force surround him and the area. Someone or something with force sensitivity arrived, and from what he was feeling whoever it was. Was far from a possible friendly the aura he had felt was almost unnatural, he was by no means a master and couldn't fully tell but he knew something was off. Jericho came here for knowledge and to be closer to the force, he was able to do that, seems like he will have additional saber training as well. He stood up straight showing the he stood tall at 6 feet and 5 inches tall, he reach to a part of his belt and put on a breathing mask to help regulate his breathing for increase stamina, just in case. He raised a hand and used the force to hover his saber into his hand and turned it on to only one end to make it look like a standard saber instead of the dual-bladed. The man stood there quietly, awaiting for the being to come to him, he did nothing to mask his presence.

@[member="Cronos Aegir"]

 

[Qhorin Solas]

The Force-adept; a Jedi, I realized, recognizing the distinctive thrum of the lightside of the Force- didn't bother to cloak his presence. I had done little to hide my own, when I first arrived, but as I drew nearer to my quarry, I reached out into the ever-flowing ocean of power and sunk beneath its depths, allowed my worries and anxieties to drift away, hiding my presence in its azure waves. I left no sign of my passing in either the physical or the metaphysical world, every step measured, quieter than the gentlest wind. I was more than just a warrior; I was an assassin as well, a killer in the truest since of the word, and I deployed tactics as befitting my designation, using deception and mis-direction just as often and as readily as I used my lightsaber.

Only a fool would blindly rush into battle. I could be aggressive - very much so - and relied on that aggression when in the throes of combat, but exercising caution could be just as important. I would study this Force-adept first, perhaps unravel the workings of his mind, and then, and only then, would I move to attack.

My senses led me to an ancient, moss covered temple of green tinged stone, standing strong against the ravages of time. I took care to step softly against the stone as I made my way down the temple's dark halls, the matte black of my Imperial Intelligence uniform a perfect match for the long shadows.

Eventually I reached a chamber near what I assumed to be the center of the temple. It was empty, save for a single soul. The Jedi... He was taller than the average human, with a strange apparatus covering his face. Some sort of breathing mask, perhaps? He had already drawn his blade, seemingly anticipating a fight. I knew then this was not the typical Jedi.

With nary a word, I activated my saber as well, feeling a deep sense of calm wash over me at the familiar hum sounding in my ear. I considered the blade inadequate, as it wasn't made of my own hand, but I had gotten more comfortable with the lightsaber the longer I wielded it.

The blade's pale blue gleam spread across the corridor, illuminating the cracked stone. My voice was calm when I spoke, echoing the flow of power steadily building in my body, invigorating and vitalizing my synapses until the beat of my heart and the vibration of the force sounded as one. "By the authority granted me by the First Imperial Edict of the Inquistion, I order you to surrender yourself to the custody of the Atrisian Empire. Failure to comply is punishable by death."

Face hidden by shadow, I stood and waited.

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@[member="Jericho"]​

 

[Jericho]

The Jedi stood there silently but firm, feeling the other force user closing on his location. In that time Jericho analyzed the area he could use to escape if needed, what he could use to distract or used to hurt his foe if needed. He was far from the usual Jedi and from what he felt from this force user, that whoever this person was, they were the same way. He had to tactically think of how he was going to handle his foe, thought Jericho was well verse and an adept in all six forms of saber combat and more, what if this foes saber skills were a match, was he going to need to act aggressively or defensively? Would he have to change saber styles? Was he going to need to turn the tides with unarmed combat, if he does would he have to use more stealth like skills or overwhelm his foe with his strength? Was this foe exceptionally strong in force use both mentally and physically, was this going to be a epic battle of force? This place was overflowing with light force energy would it play for his advantage or render it a stalemate?

A man with blonde hair entered the room, the force spewing from his person, though it seemed almost unnatural. It was not by any means dark, but still there was something about that made a slight disturbance. Regardless, Jericho quickly analyzed him from head to toe, the other man stood only a few inches shorter than he did and from his size, Jericho felt he had at between twenty to forty pounds if not more on the other man. Which meant he could overwhelm his possible foe if needed and had to watch out for a small size could mean he was faster. The other man stood in the shadows of the temple, his dark blue eyes staring at Jericho from a distance, he had yet to make a move only turning on his saber. Jericho assumed, that his possible foe was calm headed and may not be after his head after all he may be just of turned on his saber in his own defense.

"By the authority granted me in the First Imperial Edict of the Inquistion, I order you to surrender yourself to the custody of the Atrisian Empire. Failure to comply is punishable by death."

Or maybe not.

Jericho understood the concept of a loyal soldier, he understood the man who stood before him was just doing his duty for his lord maybe it was blind loyalty or absolute patriotism. Either way the galaxy was at war and things need to get done, so in those terms, Jericho did not hate the man for his actions in fact he had almost a sense of admiration. Almost. Unfortunately, Jericho didn't not have the wish for death and it seemed that the man would not let just walk out of the temple. Unlike his foe, he didn't want his head, only those of the dark side, but still he was going to fight and so, Jericho re-analyzed his foe. The man seem competent in his own skills standing there calmly and awaiting for Jericho to make his move, Jericho had to test this first. So he was going to move aggressively, after all action was faster than reaction, if the other man can stand toe to toe it would prove that skill. He spun his saber and crossed it over his chest performing a respectful bow as he did with all his enemies then stood up straight.

A millisecond after finishing his bow, Jericho instantly leaped into the Shien stance using the force to close the distance between the two. Without getting to close, he used the force to collect a layer of dust around them to toss into the face of his blonde foe in the means of a distraction. In case the other force user knew the forms instead of using his strengh into a few number of attacks, Jericho switched into the Ataru stance. He instead used the diversion to attack head on using a flurry of quick but aggressive strikes in hopes of overwhelming him, in a intelligent manner. He feigned the first vertical strike then ducked low doing a continual flurry of horizontal strikes aiming for his midsection, all of which were another distraction for his true objective, the blonde's left ankle. While doing those strike, he continually aimed to stomp on his foe's ankle in hope to cause numbing injury to make it difficult for his foe to move.
@[member="Cronos Aegir"]

 

[Qhorin Solas]

Instead of replying to my statement with words the Jedi bowed, settling into a familiar stance, his blade angled behind him in the unorthodox, reverse Shien grip. I wasn't surprised that he had ignored me -- very few Force-adepts would willingly submit themselves to the mercy of the Atrisian Empire. I was surprised, however, when a sharp warning echoed through the Force, alerting me to impending danger. Enmeshed in its ever flowing energies as I was, I felt his attack before I saw it, felt the rush of wind from his rapid advance, and acted accordingly.

As he darted towards me, intent on engaging in battle, I launched my saber at his chest, following behind the spinning projectile at a more sedate pace. I controlled the trajectory of the blade with a tendril of energy, guiding its path as I ran, meters passing beneath my feet in a blur. Whatever his plans had been, they would be derailed by the blue beam spiraling towards him. His initial tactic seemed rather aggressive for a Jedi, but the surprise of his sudden assault was wasted by his positioning, as he stood well within my view. I would not stand and wait for his attack.

I would exploit the openings presented to me, goading him to the heights of his strength to better understand the depths of his weakness.

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@[member="Jericho"]​

 

[Jericho]

As Jericho made his charge toward the nameless enemy, it was a normal reaction to being charged thought more by a spear than a saber. Luckily for him he was a decent distance from the possible fatal blow, the nameless enemy had the right idea to counter. Still, Jericho kept a enough distance from the judgement of the length of his saber to parry the strike. But that wouldn't be able to stop his flurry of strikes with his saber, impressively, the other warrior controlled where the saber went, an absolute rarity on Jericho's part unless altered. This was interesting, Jericho spent years to master the ways of martial combat as well as use of the force, he was precised in the strikes he had made even when it was seemingly wild. But the man whom of which he was engaging, was indeed shrouded in the force and he indefinitely knew what to do with it. Jericho kept the pressure on the enemy, continually attempting to strike at his ankle, but to no avail. Thus far, he had yet to be able to land a single strike, thus the man passed Jericho's test of skill with flying colors, most interesting.

This man....This man, this Atrisian soldier, he was agile, he was intelligent, and he was strong in the force. Jericho was going to have to adjust his tactics and had to assume that this man had the skills of a sith knight. After all, he was shrouded in the force and Jericho had no idea of the man's true strength as of yet, it has merely been a couple strike back and forth. But one and to be calm and competent in the use of the force to divert a flurry of attacks as the man had just done. So far, he had yet to fight back even when he had to chance to. Jericho took a moment to stop his attack and continued to defend himself, he inhaled the air around him deeply and exhaled slowly gathering the air and the force him to develop a strong force bellow but being a novice in the technique it was going to take alot of gathering before he can release a bellow strong enough to damage. Luckily it was a move used by Ithorians, hopefully his foe would not expect him to use it. So he would have to continue to gather as the fight progressed.

While taking the time to pause his attack, Jericho took the time to look into his opponent once more. "He remains on the defensive, only defending from my attacks and only striking once when I was open to attack from the initial force leap. He is either waiting for the right time to strike or analyzing me as I am analyzing him. Is he hoping I attack blindly?" Jericho thought to himself staring down the man. He wasn't completely sure what the warrior was planning but Jericho wasn't going to allow him to gain the upperhand on him. Jericho has yet to show his foe, his strengths or weaknesses, he had to remain unpredictable and unorthodox. With another breathe he switched his stance to Niman and went to attack the Atrisian warrior once more.

He jumped back and landed standing in a strong back stance he held his orange saber in one hand and held up his other hand, open palmed. He used the force to send a strong enough push to shove to the man to stop him to striking at a distance for a moment, with his saber and again switched his style again to Ataru. He used the area using a mix of force jump and speed to move from wall to wall again closing the distance between him and the warrior. He aimed to do another flurry of fast attacks aiming for the body, hoping by the end he would leave an opening so he could use his free hand to punch his foe in the face.

(sorry again for taking so long. hope this was a good enough post! anything need to edit let me know!)

@[member="Cronos Aegir"]