Location: Inside the observatory, engaged with [member="Edric Vanyan"]
Allies: @Er’in Tenel [member="Mirvak"]
Enemies: [member="Edric Vanyan"] [member="Akabane"] [member="Zesiro"]
Engaging: [member="Edric Vanyan"]
Beltran had to admit, he was impressed by [member="Edric Vanyan"]. No sooner had the mercenary made his allegiance known did the younger man spring into action, raising a piece of floor paneling to block his shots. It was a creative, albeit temporary, solution to a serious problem: the fact that he was facing enemies on both sides. What was even more impressive was that the boy was able to manipulate his flame at the same time, effectively cutting off the massive wolf-like creature from the fight.
At the edge of the mercenary’s perception, he felt the slight tingle of doubt enter his mind. Maybe you picked the wrong side. He heard The Jester’s voice tease inside his mind.
Beltran narrowed his eyes and forced his mind to adopt the stone-like discipline he had honed over the many years of his career. He knew there could be no room for doubt. Beltran had made his choice and now he had to ensure that it was the right one. Doubt would only get in the way of his getting paid, and probably get him killed at the same time.
For the next two or three seconds, Beltran continued his barrage of stun blasts even despite the fact that they were being countered by the durasteel panel. In this time, he used his ability to read body language to learn as much as he could about his opponent. The first thing he learned, was that the boy had an anger problem. He might not have been screaming or shouting, but Beltran could tell that the boy had been truly enraged.
This fit well with Beltran’s earlier analysis of the boy’s sense of entitlement. Obviously, the younger man had a problem being told no. Right now, he suspected that the boy’s anger was fueling his abilities. Even in those untrained in the Force, controlled anger could provide focus. Beltran knew that from experience. However, uncontrolled anger was a liability and the fact that Edric had been so enraged so easily could very well prove to be a vulnerability down the road.
Next, Beltran allowed himself an instant to take in the rest of the scene. Though the creature, [member="Mirvak"], was effectively cut off from this part of the battle for the moment, Beltran was not without allies. The woman, @Er’in Tenel, who had paid him remained on this side of the flames. As he fired, he watched her through his peripheral vision as she sidestepped around Edric and closer to his side, drawing some kind of sword as she did so.
He had no idea what it was, or how it would measure up to the lightsaber he was sure Edric now had in his hand, but he had read the woman’s body language as well. She was confident, but not exactly cocky in her demeanor. She had a sense of focus about her that Beltran respected. She seemed like the type of person to know what they were doing.
In an instant, Beltran knew what he had to do. If he left the young man alone too long, Beltran was sure he would be able to conjure up some other power to extricate himself from his current circumstance. The boy was too dangerous for Beltran to let that happen. He needed to be overwhelmed while his attention was divided between keeping his blaster at bay and keeping the wall of flame up.
“Wait until you hear it,” He said to the woman next to him, deliberately being vague about what exactly she would hear. “Then charge.”
Without waiting for her response, but trusting her to read the situation and act accordingly, Beltran began to walk purposefully toward Edric. As he did this, he increased his rate of fire while simultaneously switching between stun and kill.
The idea was that each killing bolt that hit the durasteel panel would cause increasing amounts of damage to it, and the force with which it hit would hopefully force Edric to concentrate that much harder on keeping it in place. Then by alternating with the stun blasts, he took full advantage of any shift in the panel’s position caused by the previous killing bolt to allow at least some of the energy to strike it’s target.
Furthermore Beltran’s reason for closing the distance between them was two-fold. Firstly, by approaching Edric, he decreased the risk of missing his target and increased the force with which each bolt hit home. Secondly, he had a surprise in store that he hoped would distract Edric just long enough to allow the woman to get inside his defenses.
Lorrdians had a reputation in the galaxy for being uncanny mimics. For reasons both ancient and too complicated to get into right at this moment, most Lorrdians were able to alter their voices to mimic just about any sound that could made by human vocal chords. In short, Beltran could alter his voice to sound like literally any of the beings he had heard speak during this encounter.
But that was not his plan.
His plan was to mimic a very specific bird call he had once heard as a child on Lorrd. That of a Razorbird. The Razorbird was named, not because it was some kind of powerful avian predator. In fact, it was tiny and basically defenseless. It’s only claim to fame was its call: a powerful screeching sound that actually felt like it was cutting into you when it was emitted. It didn’t do any damage, but it was extremely unpleasant and, he suspected, the last sound anyone would expect a man like Beltran to make.
He hoped that the dichotomy of seeing Beltran as one thing, and hearing him as something completely different would provide enough distraction to the already taxed Edric to make him slip up and give the woman an opening.
To further that aim, he threw one more unique ability he had into the mix: the ability to “throw” his voice. That was a term used in ventriloquism for the ability to make one's voice sound as if were coming from a different direction.
He had only done it a handful of times in the past, and only over a very short distance. That was why he pressed his attack until he was so close to Edric that his blaster muzzle was almost touching the durasteel panel. Then he opened his mouth, took a deep breath and let out a powerful, inhuman screech that cut right through the din of the battle.
Had the screech sounded as if it came directly from Beltran’s mouth that might have been one thing. Instead, however, he was able to throw his voice in such a fashion that it actually seemed as if the call originated from right beside Edric’s head.
Unable to speak, knowing that the continuous switching back and forth from stun to kill would quickly drain his rifle and certain that if the distraction failed he would be well within range of Edric’s saber, Beltran sent a single thought out into the void, hoping that the woman would understand the meaning of the words he’d uttered before.
Go. Now.
