Tournament Of Champions:Fringe!

[Arage Bao]

Nobody ever called the Glory-Song merciful, once in a different life Jared might have given the kid a break. He was obviously way out of his league here, fighting against Masters of the Force and Veteran Soldiers who were unparalleled in their expertise. But facing all of that.. the lad was doing fine, hell he had given Dak a run for his money indeed. Something to be proud of.

But in the end, giving your best ain’t always enough. This wasn’t a science-fiction novel, or any other form of fiction. This was the real world, and the cruel reality was that… people died. People died, and young men with potential did not always win magically against more experienced and stronger opponents.

Was Nickolas going to die today? Perhaps not. The resilience of mankind was stunning in the face of defeat. But nevertheless, Jared did not halt his mental attack.

Here was a fact.

The best way to defend against a mentalist is indeed focusing upon certain imageries, and feelings to ward yourself. So while the idea, and the execution for that matter were top notch. In this situation… it was just not enough.

Nickolaus had been firmly focusing on the threat of Dak, who was spouting around ammo as if it was candy. Concentration was resolved around trying not to get his ass filled up with holes. Then there was the fact that already had to divide that attention onto creating walls of earth.

And the feats accomplished were quite stunning. Alter Environment was a very taxing use of your powers. The fact that the man was still standing, trying to stave off the mental attack… well it was daunting to say the least.

But together with the thermal detonator, which the soldier had just placed on top of the dome, and the Glory-Song’s own mental barrage… well this was going to get interesting.

More power was thrown into the mix.

“YOU CAME TO FIGHT, BROTHER OF FIRE. I SALUTE YOUR BRAVERY, BUT SHALL NOT STAIN YOUR GLORY BY GIVING YOU RESPITE, LOST PHOENIX. FEEL THE SORROW OF A THOUSAND WRAITHS DESCEND UPON YOUR VERY SOUL. KNOW THE PAIN OF THE WICKED. BE CLEANSED OF YOUR TROUBLES.”​

“BURN.”​

​

​

By now everyone in the arena would feel the sensation of Jared's power. The EpiCANThix might feel it as a sudden headache, or maybe the genetics were really that much stronger. The Centaur would experience a minor headache, maybe. Then again. The Glory-Song's song was focused on Nicky, so maybe only he would feel everything.

 

[Garza]

IN the Darkness of the Dome that had been created over my head, I was in the fetal position trying with all of my might to keep the man out of my head. His words seemed to echo in my mind as I knew that other things were probably taking place outside. His words initiated thousands of voices screaming in my head with pain and anguish.

I had dropped my saber on the ground and clutched my head within my hands. Wanting just for the pain to end. I had felt pain before with poisons flowing in my veins, and I could take many hits. But this was unbearable. I could feel my blood boil in my veins as the man told in a single word of burn. I had to fight this man. but I had already used what I had. And there was a time for everything.

I I could almost feel the dome on me become closed on me. As though the dome was crashing down on me. I had to get out. NOW! I wanted all of the dome gone. Just so I could get out of here. I lashed out with the force in all directions. Wanting to be free. be it my last act here, I didn't want to die under a dome of my own creation. Blasting all that was away from me. I couldn't hold it any longer.

"I will return for you whoever you are. and next time I will not lose so easily." I let out of my mind to him. And from there, I decided to let myself fall.

it was time for my nap.

[member="Jared Ovmar"], [member="Dak Canton"]

 

[Marcus Tritum]

An intense headache started to form. A bunch of other combatants fell to their knees, screaming, then went silent save for twitches and mad muttering.

Uhm. What the hell? I had no time to think as behind me things suddenly went boom.

The crater left behind by the explosion of the thermal detonator and the kid's last shreds of power was pretty freakin' big. Little pieces of rubble bounced off the back of my armor. I turned around to see the kid lying at the center of the crater. Dead or unconscious. Didn't matter. I wasn't about to walk over and give him a double tap to the head. I try to be the good guy, I really do.

One hostile down... I looked around the arena... lots people had been downed by some sort of mental attack. They crawled along the sand or lay there, muttering, minds broken.... so it looked like a few more to go. Oh boy.

I moved as fast as I could, heavy boots kicking up sand as I moved behind another boulder. I reached up and pulled out the shrapnel I'd gotten in the trapezius muscle. Lucky. Not deep. Blood still trickled down my shoulder. I rolled it experimentally. Twinges of pain, but otherwise it felt fine. I ejected the mag on my machine pistol and clipped another one of FLARE slugs into place. I took out the Ripper and put in another Plug N' Fire cell, then I ditched the extra coolant tanks and ammo for the Hyperion. Wouldn't need those anymore.

Breathing deep, I looked at the pile of spent and useless mags before me. This was just the beginning. I exhaled and came around the corner of the rock and out into the open. The machine pistol was holstered, for now. I held the Ripper with two hands, one grabbing the foregrip for steadier aim. I scanned the arena for a viable opponent and saw - I kid you not - an honest to goodness centaur with slug-like eyestalks and a tail with what looked like a cleaver at the end.

"You're kriffing me," I muttered, "What's next, unicorns and fairies?"

I moved toward the creature until I drew within the 35 meter range of the Ripper, then I opened fire. The Ripper contains 150 rounds in the power cell. I fired off about ten at full auto to test the waters. They were all aimed at the hoofed-one's center of mass. Force knows he made a big enough target.

[member="Kasamann"] [member="Jared Ovmar"]

 

[Matreya]

(0.0 First time in a long while Zaiden was seen when he didn't want to...not gonna ignore it as there might be something I missed, but is there something in use to counter a Stealth Master using stealth?)

Kasamann let his frontal eyes remain on the battle while his stalks held the one with more power in his sights. Jared would prove harder then he would want to admit, so no taking his eyes off the man. But then Jared did something more and Kasamann was glad he already had some mental shields in place, for the pain held for the barest of seconds before he clamped down on it once more. However then something odd happened, the soldier changed his aim and fired at Kasamann!

Clearly he had been in prison to long, cause he was slipping up bad.

Holding up a hand, Kasamann utilized an old ability, one of his strongest for a while of his life, the Andolith Elite 'punched' the ground hard with a tk fist larger then himself, and amidst the belt of sand (can't remember if this arena is sandy...) the shots died away. Then pushing outwards, Kasamann made the grains of sand and small rocks into little bullets which he fired back at Dak with Balistakenesis. It wouldnt be as if The Thronebreaker had launched them, however the intricacies of TK were extremely valuable for the centaur - he used it for every form of stealth he applied to still molecules and the like, thus hiding heat etc - and had been his secondary ability since day one. Thus maybe some deep dents and possible facial damage, depending on his opponents grade of armor.

While the attack was racing towards his opponent, Kasamann made a split second decision. Jared would know about him being here now, no-one was dumb enough to ignore a man firing into open space. Thus he spun and charged full tilt at the Iron Man look-alike, waiting until he was within a few feet to drop his Force Cloak. Then he transferred the small energy flow into the form of enhancing the speed of his humongous scythe like tail, for when he launched into into motion, there were two intense cracks in the air, signaling the breaking of the sound barrier twice for the Bullwhip like living appendage.

[member="Dak Canton"] [member="Jared Ovmar"]

 

[Arage Bao]

The Bullwhip broke the sound barrier, and went right through Jared Ovmar, Lord of the Fringe. Or at least… a copy of him, because as soon as the the whip passed the body, it re-emerged without any damage at all. A lazy grin appeared on its lips, which never reached his eyes. Cold dead eyes.

Then words were spoken. Words of power, permeating the Arena. The ground shook, and the walls vibrated with the Word. Those who were capable, would hear them in their heads, mind warping to fit the bold big letters. The rest would hear them with their ears, still pretty loud.

“YOU. I KNOW YOUR MIND, SPAWN OF SHADOWS. TRAITOR OF KIN, AND MASTER OF THE UNDEATH. WHISPERS CAME TO ME, FORETELLING OF YOUR RESURRECTION. NOW YOU ARE HERE. FACE YOUR FINAL DESTRUCTION, SKINCHANGER.”

The clones dissipated, and wisps of power went straight into the remaining silhouette of the Glory-Song. No more hiding. His apple flung away, he rose himself from his crouching-position and regarded the battlefield.

Space Unicorn had attacked exactly the opposite clone, so he was as far away as possible. Commando was closer..

“YOU. SOLDIER OF THE BRINK, HEAR ME. THIS HORSE HOUSES THE SOUL OF A TRAITOR TO OUR NATION. FIGHT WITH ME, TO DESTROY THIS EVIL. Then… we will sort the duel out amongst ourselves.”

[member="Kasamann"] [member="Dak Canton"]

 

[Marcus Tritum]

Slack-jawed, I watched as the Hoofy McCreepy pounded the ground, creating a wave of sand that apparently soaked up all my blaster rounds like candy. The superheated plasma ripped through the sand, turning whole chunks into shards of glass that glimmered in the air. Then Snail Eyes raised up a bunch of little rocks and shot 'em at me like bullets. I'm not a Forcer. I can dodge stuff, just not stuff that moves hundreds of feet per second.

I gritted my teeth as the barrage of pebbles cascaded against my phrik armor. It felt like somebody repeatedly pitching fastballs into my body, mainly my chest. The bombardment of tiny projectiles would have almost been funny if it didn't leave me on one knee with a whole new set of bruises beneath my armor. I wasn't sure if that was the best the guy had or if he was just distracted by the dude eating an apple. Either way, I didn't really finding like sitting there and finding out again.

With quick steps, I moved my bruised and battered body toward the next nearest rock formation, keeping my eyes on the surroundings and particularly on the target. Loud cracks split the air like somebody cracking a whip and I stared with wide eye as the centaur whipped its scythelike tail through the body of Johnny Appleseed and... phased right through. Then the ground quaked and a voice like thunder boomed in the arena and I totally, absolutely did not cower in terror behind my little rock.

The voice spoke, offering a deal. It sounded good enough to me.

"YEAH," I shouted, trying to sound tough. It came out more like "Eep." I stared at Hoofman, eyes hard. "COPY THAT!"

From behind the cover of the rock formation, I raised the Ripper and loosed a stream of plasma toward the centaur. As I've often said before, them Forcers can do a whole lot, but blocking a hail of full auto blasterfire is pretty hard. Most of them just end up dying.

[member="Kasamann"] [member="Jared Ovmar"]

 

[Matreya]

Offering a mental snarl at being decieved, Kasamann turned and stared at Jared as he spoke. But unless the others were paying attention, they would miss the impossibly fast flick of his tail that dropped a man - a nobody - to the ground weapons and all landing in a semi circle around him. Then another, in the time it took for the two to speak to Kasamann - screw it Tenebrae, he wasnt going to hide whom he was now - had killed 4 men of average size and build.

Tsaiwinokka Hoyakut. The words were whispered, barely loud enough to be heard if they were standing next to the centaur. But their meaning, and the power beneath them, that was where the danger lie, Weak little Jared. Always gonna need someones aid huh? Then the other man once more opened fire on the beast, thus he was off once more.

The average human, not specifically force enhanced, is capable of some pretty intense things. Shooting pills out of the sky with bb guns, being capable of arching an arrow so that as it fired it bent slightly around a tree to hit its target, but could a man aim true and straight against a moving object that took bare seconds to reach 80 miles per hour? This was the question.

Running down, and further away from the two, Tenebrae sought to use the rock Dak hid against to his advantage. Having moved to the rock for protection, it wasnt likely he would move to far away from its offered safety, thus Tenebrae kept the stone between them at all times. If Dak did happen to step further out while he approached, then it would be a true test of the soldiers skills.

Altering his course swiftly, he made a direct beeline towards Dak to finish the final 15 feet between the two. And then his magic would show itself. Dropping his hold over the Force, Tenebrae smiled as the 4 previously dead warriors all lunged simultaenously at Dak. Two from the right, one from the left and behind, while a humongous Scythe like appendage broke the sound barrier came flying towards his face.

Come on then. You came to prove yourself. Now do so. Tenebrae roared just as loud as Jared, with the same effects.

[member="Dak Canton"] [member="Jared Ovmar"]

 

[Marcus Tritum]

As a matter of fact, shootin' something coming straight at you is a fairly simple thing, regardless of how fast it moves. Especially since I'd already pulled the trigger. Apparently that didn't seem to matter to the centaur, who promptly tried to hide his massive bulk on the other side of the rock, my rock, at a rate of speed that was pretty damn fast. I wasn't too surprised, seeing as how Forcers seemed to bend the laws of reality every couple of minutes. My tolerance for impossibilities was getting lower.

Suddenly, Lord of the Hooves whipped around one corner of the rock and came right for me. Keep in mind, I was still shooting at him, so he had to deal with the better part of a couple dozen bolts of searing plasma coming straight toward him. Anyway, I moved backward, hoping I'd gun him down before getting impaled by that scythe on his tail, when I caught a glimpse of movement out of the corner of my eyes. Dudes with glassy eyes and big ol' gapin' wounds came out me. I whirled around - call it a gut feeling - and found one coming for my back.

The thing about zombies, which I was pretty sure these were, is they aren't all that bright.

I grabbed the one behind me as it reached out a creepy hand to do Force knows what. Putting it into an impromptu arm bar, one hand on the wrist, one behind the elbow, I used my weight and its forward momentum to push it past me and send it right into the centaur's tail-scythe. Blood spattered my helmet and I gaped as one half of the zombie tumbled away from the other. Backpedaling quickly, I grabbed another zombie and shoved it toward the centaur. Then the remaining two were all over me. I punched one in the face, activating the knuckle blade in my armor as I did so. The punch was now spearheaded by a gleaming blade of phrik that spiked through the thing's skull like a melon. I kicked Mr. Grabby off of me and whirled, shooting the other in the chest at least five times.

With all the zombies dead I still had to deal with the Speedy Gonz-Centaur. Raising my full auto blaster, I let loose at the ugly monstrosity.

[member="Kasamann"] [member="Jared Ovmar"]

 

[Matreya]

(Dont know how big were imagining the rock your hiding in, i imagined like a huge boulder. If thats incorrect let me know and ill edit.)

Blaster fire would have been damaging as such, if Tenebrae had indeed been charging at rather than away to loop back. And despite the extra distance, his tactics and the simultaneous attack of 5 beings, had failed entirely. Talk about the pot calling the kettle. Drawing back his body, he hid against the opposite side of the rock, ducking as low as he could.

Then using the Force for the barest of seconds, Tenebrae gained an approximate location of Dak. The moment his position was found, his massive tail vanished from sight, covered by the 'stealth bubble' - an area completely hidden by bent light, smothering any outstanding heat sources such as that of his own blood as well as in doing so, ceasing sound from expelling -conjured by Tenebrae. At one point these bubbles were hard to maintain, but after so many lifetimes worth of useage, the Master had...well Mastered it.

Next came a single attack, a wide snapping arc that would swing around the boulder with the intent to slice and stick anything within the range he had sensed Dak last held. But before the blade could indent itself into the rock surface, the being angled it to bear backwards in the same loop on its come back trip, all the while invisible to the eye and all sensors.

The man he faced had clear talent, beyond any of the norm. Each attack had indeed struck home, and it wasnt until the being noticed his vision was blurring in an odd fashion that he took a swift bodily inventory. He was bleeding profusely from his left shoulder on his torso, his left stalk eye was bruised intensely and unable to stand upright let alone see correctly - explaining why a being whom was used to dual vision experienced this as a blurring. And now continuous bruising covered his back, lower and upper halves alike, thanks to the fire as it followed his tracks until he was hidden that now struck the rock behind himself resulting in a hail of heavy debris.

Deciding to move rather then check his target, Tenebrae called upon the Stealth Bubble to enlarge, passing over and protecting and shielding himself as well. Back tracking swiftly, the beast made sure to sweep an imaginary broom after himself to cover his tracks. The Master assassin was used to such things of course, but they need mentioning.

After a moderate distance was gained, Tenebrae hid himself behind a semi destroyed pillar, Jared...Jaaarrreed...come over and play little one... Tenebrae called in a mocking tone, cackling slightly at being free to play with powerful opponents. Zaiden, Penumbra, Tenebrae, hell any other mentalities yet unfound, all had the urge to battle strong opponents and Tenebrae was the worst. Touching his Taozin amulet for a moment he contemplated removing it, and forcing himself to concentrate on fully staying hidden, as Zaiden had done so long ago.

But alas, this was a folly idea driven by aforementioned personalities that wished to drive Tenebrae to exhaustion and thus set themselves free. He would not do so. No, he had shown without armor, and this was enough to test himself.

A sudden searing pain raced along his ribs - lower - and he glanced to see that what had been an unnoticed shot had become a heavier flow thanks to the running. Placing his hand over the wound on the shoulder, along with the other on his side, the Andolith healed them enough to cease pain and leakage.

Could the Soldier heal? This was the optimal question.

[member="Dak Canton"] [member="Jared Ovmar"]

 

[Arage Bao]

Alright.. soo… here is the deal. When you are fighting an opponent, who did not seem to be doing anything at all. You better believe he is up to something, especially after the Glory-Song’s power display. A man like that ain’t just sitting around, waving his meatstick around and hoping for someone to solve his problem for him.

Sure, it would have been handy, but this time… it was personal. Zaiden had betrayed his family, HIS family. The Fringe had saved Jared, had given him everything he needed when he was a nobody. Something like that was not easily forgotten. So when a so-called Master Stealth Space Unicorn Assassin… thingie came around, after just getting his ass handed to him…

Well, you know some would take it pretty personal. Zaiden had thrown a hissyfit, and tried to throw fething zombie armies at them and now he was here again? Kark that. No scrap that, kark that twice.

Saying Jared was pissed off was the understatement of the century. Nobody gets to betray his beloved nation, be executed and then return to become a Champion of the Fringe.

So while the Master of Space Shadows was prancing around, healing himself and dodging bullets, while simultaneously trying to taunt him? Well. Jared was gathering up his will, and the powers of creation itself to smite the sound barrier-breaking, invisible-tailed, Purple Unicorn of Doom.

Wasn’t really hard to do. I mean. For a Stealth Master, Kasamann sure did make a lot of noise and stuff. Besides, bend light all you want, but when you are running around sand… even if you wipe away the marks. You get sand thrown around everywhere, especially if you are a big karking horse.

“You talk too much.”​

While a comic villain would first give him the message, and then start an attack. (making sure that there would be a forewarning) Jared did none of that silly stuff. Instead he just directed his vast mentalistic awesomeness of DOOM against the bipolar space mare.

Eat that.

[member="Kasamann"] [member="Dak Canton"]

 

[Marcus Tritum]

Blink.

The gigantic centaur ducked behind the rock and just completely vanished. It took me a few important microseconds to realize I'd been truly screwed. I didn't even see the invisible, ridiculous tail of the half-evolved creature swinging around the rock until it hit me like a bus. The deadly scythe slammed into my phrik chestplate and flung me up against the rock. The air rushed out of my lungs and I heard something in my body go crunch. Don't get me wrong, armor is great and all, the phrik prevented me from getting cut in half by the thing. But I was pretty sure a rib or two just got hit by the blunt hammer of kinetic energy and went snap. Pain flared in my vision and everything suddenly became blurry. I tried to mutter something defiant and masculine, but all that came out was,

"Ow."

I blinked away tears and tried to rise from where I'd fallen against the rock. Force knew the Hoofmaster was probably gearing up for another decapitating blow. I looked around, vision still a little blurred by the pain. As I looked, I moved my hands with practiced ease, ejecting the Plug N Fire cell on my Ripper and twisting another one into place. The power cell had 150 rounds of ammunition. Time to waste some hay-eater.

Shakin' my head to get rid of the stars, I looked around. A trail of dust led away from my position. I didn't see any tracks, but what I did spot was a long trail of blood leading right to a little pool where I guessed the frakker was. It was right next to a semi-destroyed pillar. I started movin' for it, unholstering my czerka machine pistol as I did so. When I got in range, I opened fire with both guns.

Twenty blaster bolts seared through the air from my ripper straight for the space centaur and ten slug thrower rounds zipped out from my czerka machine pistol. The important part about the slugs is that they are 9mm FLARE hollow rounds filled with pyrophoric gels that ignite upon contact. Not only would they punch through the horseman's skin, they'd light him on fire with two or three hits.

The point of shooting at him with two different weapons was fairly simple. Forcers are ok blocking slugs and blasters separately. Blocking both at the same time? Way harder. Blocking both at the same time and stopping a mental invasion from a master of the Force? Good luck.

[member="Kasamann"] [member="Jared Ovmar"]

 

[Matreya]

Priming himself for the attack he had known was coming his way, Tenebrae bore against the pillar as tight as he could. And then came the assault, and it was every bit the pressure he had imagined it would. But Jared had to realize one minor thing, his Shields had been in place since the moment he spotted Jared, as well as having training with one of the greatest Mentalists - Tirdarius - when he was a knight, PLUS now hosting in a species that few Masters there were tended to bear in mentalism thanks to the natural telepathic abilities.

But, this again didnt slacken the pain that bore against his mind. When it came to it, he had a bit of knowledge in mentalist defenses, but the man whom attacked was a Mentalist through and through as well as one whom did indeed know a few things about Zaiden.

Groaning against the onslaught, Tenebrae peered his stalk eye around the corner of the pillar just as his opponents firing began. Fighting against the onslaught wrought by Jared, and now attempting to shrink himself behind a pillar, boy this was becoming a hard battle.

At that thought, 3 working Andoliths eyes lowered in a smirk, Good. Reaching to the side of his lower half, the being gripped a secret weapon of his and dropped it, watching as its tail slithered behind it. Following though was an immediate cringing, for one of the blaster shots plunged deep into his arm as he drew it back to his side.

This wound was far to deep to attempt healing, thus instead he let his arm hang loose to his side. Who cared? Andolith arms wouldnt be of use in a battle against a veteran soldier.

Waiting for the man who continued firing at him to near, Tenebrae listened for the one sound he needed...his pistol ceased fire meaning he likely had to reload. Drawing back his bladed tail swiftly, in two hacks, the brute took of a large chunk of the pillar to which he launched it at his enemies guessed location using TK. A hundred pounds of concrete now acting as a distraction, Tenebrae finally had the time to clamp down on his mind and cease the greater majority of the pain - though some still got through.

Once more casting his Stealth Bubble, the brute raced across the field towards Jared. This time the description of blood flow being mostly hidden by sweeping sand a necessity.


[member="Dak Canton"] [member="Jared Ovmar"]

 

[Marcus Tritum]

Except I wasn't about to just stop firing once I saw a spatter of blood stream out that told me I was shooting in the right direction. Wanna know why? Because I had 150 rounds of ammunition in the Ripper, my full auto blaster, and 20 FLARE slugs in the other that would literally set my opponent on fire if two or more of them hit. By the time I stopped firing the centaur's corpse would have been nothing more than a bloody smear and a tattered corpse in the sand. There's a reason Blas Tech called it the Ripper.

Horseboy didn't stand around and wait for me to shoot 'till empty. He lopped off a gigantic chunk of the pillar and sent it flying at me with magical Force powers. In stark terror I hit the dirt, loosing a groan of agony as my broken ribs collided with the ground. The concrete soared over my head at a speed approaching a well thrown ball. In other words, about 80 miles an hour. The chunk of rubble made a rushing sound as it past over my head and I grimaced. Hoboy, this was gettin' a little ridiculous. I was gettin' fed up with this horse crap - Ha. Ha.

Swiftly as I could, I got to my feet. Sweat dripped down my face and I had to blink the stinging, salty tracks out of my eyes. Maybe there were tears there too, I'm not tellin'. Now look, I'm not by any means an expert in this Force voodoo crap, but using telekinesis, makin' yourself invisible, insta-healing - guessed that when he stopped bleeding - and apparently defending against what I assumed to be a mental attack is pretty far freakin' fetched. Turns out, doing all that stuff takes a toll, which is why the invisible field of Snail-Eyes flickered a little as he full on bull rushed my frienemy.

The trail of dust hanging in the air from his attempted to cover his tracks in the sand indicated where he was going, but the flickering in and out of invisibility gave away his positioning outright.

I leveled my weapons on him and opened fire with both weapons. Plasma bolts and slugs filled with gels that would burst into chemical fire seared through the air straight toward his rumpus. And let me tell you, a gigantic centaur's rump is one awfully big target. I aimed a little lower with the blaster pistol, attempting to shoot his legs out from under him. Everyone knew that a horse was powerful, but those legs were awfully fragile. If one of them went down, the whole horse went down.

"Time to send you to the glue factory," I growled.

[member="Kasamann"]
[member="Jared Ovmar"]

 

[Matreya]

Utilizing gravity and simply guiding a falling object slightly farther than it would originally have fallen, and using attacks that had been an avid past time of his for his entirety, can be slightly taxing, but not overtly so. Thus when his Cloak had indeed faltered, it wasnt until he was within a few feet of Jared. Leaping clear over the man, Tenebrae landed in a slide that almost left him falling on his rump.

As he slid though, his tail shot out in a swift attack, this however was aimed to pierce, not slice, straight into the middle of the mans back. Tenebrae knew how to battle, and thus used Jared now as his shield. They had made a pact, would Dak risk killing his ally?

Then again, now Dak had to deal with a portion of his secret weapon. The Zombie he shot in the chest earlier and thought dead, now charged him once again. This time though the heavy leak of blood was being used as a weapon also, flinging large splatters at his opponent. If it managed to seep into any vent systems, cover hinging connections etc, the congealing would cause slow movements and the like. As well as the secondary potent factor, Zombie blood changed beings to Undead as well.

[member="Dak Canton"] [member="Jared Ovmar"]

 

[Arage Bao]

That attack had taken quite something from me, and… it seemed that the Space Unicorn only got a minor migraine which he shook off in two seconds. Looking around the battlefield, people were screaming, clawing their eyes out and otherwise showing the effects of my words. Really, it was a bit disappointing, there were two possible reasons for this strange outcome.

One.. the horse was a -really- good faker, though I doubt that. Because how would you fake not wanting to claw your eyes out, or bleeding out of your ears. Had to be some method actor, that Zaiden character.

Reason two… well. There wasn’t really a reason two, because regardless of his possible Master, Zaiden had been a Stealth Master. Utilizing the Cloak of Shadows in ways no one would be able to in a less-taxing environment, nevermind in full combat against two Masters of War.

As far as my experience goes, the Force ain’t some game with 3 different paths where you gotta unlock skills or something with experience. It is the power of Creation itself, which develops itself organically depending on how you use it. At least, that is how it worked for me.

So how the hell this guy was throwing around Force Cloaks, combining that with feats of Telekinesis, combining -that- with healing, running around while speeding himself up? No clue. Maybe he was God. Or at least a moderator of his own reality.

I was just about to call foul, when he (I kid you not) decided to jump 40 feet over my head. So really, I did the only thing a sane man would do. I rolled over on my back, pressing my body to the concrete hoping that damn tail of his wouldn’t stab me to death.

One good thing about military training, and being a frequent duelist… you learn to react very quickly to new situations. When the horse vaulted over me, he was -really- close to me. Like.. I could have given him a belly-rub, if I wanted to.

So, I did the only thing a self-respecting Lord of the Fringe would do. I gave him that belly-rub, otherwise known as ten moderate kinetite balls point-black to the gut.

At the same time his tail lashed out, and stabbed me right in the thigh. Now if I was a little pansy, I would have cried out or maybe starting whining about it. Instead I turned off my pain receptors, and rolled off the pillar to the ground.

Now, you gotta realize. I ain’t Ashin. Never specialized in body enhancements, so I couldn’t just throw out some fancy Force Weapon and land on the ground with no pain involved. I reinforced my body nevertheless, and as I crashed into the ground the leg that just had gotten stabbed by that karking leg went out under me.

Damn Space Unicorns with their damn tails, and their damn multiple specialities.

Crucitorn was in effect, so I managed to get back on my feet and limb over to Mister Arsenal.

“Don’t even. That hit should have taken him flat. One-hitted karking Ordo with that technique, and this guy only gets a migraine. Talk about min-maxing.”​

I reached out towards my pain, I couldn’t really feel it. But it was there, and it was one of the few ready energy sources I had left. So I started to draw from it, had to grind my teeth as the pain settled back in. But that’s the cost you gotta pay for power, sometimes it fething hurts.

Good thing is.. you could do a lot with that pain, like.. making a Space Unicorn hurt. But for now, I gotta keep drawing in the power. One-hit blasting won’t work with this guy, kinetite balls aside… the lad’s gotta be on his last legs.

No way in hell he had much more fight in him.

[member="dak canton"] [member="kasamann"]

 

[Marcus Tritum]

The hail of continuous fire was still headed toward the centaur. Let's just repeat what I was sending off at him: 9mm hollow rounds filled with pyrophoric gels that would ignite upon contact and turn him into the galaxy's finest burning centaur-ninja. Not to mention the compressed beams of plasma from the blaster pistol that seared through the air and straight toward the horse-boy-slug-eyes. Since my temporary ally had hit the deck and was lying on the ground he was not in any danger as the rounds just soared over him and headed straight for the centaur, who had just used up all his get-out-of-jail free cards.

Let me emphasize that over thirty rounds of these things were hurtling toward him at speeds that exceeded humanoid reaction time, even aided by the Force. Plenty of Jedi would agree with me, if, you know, they hadn't been gunned down by blasters. But I guess they weren't Expert-Stealth-Lightning-Fast-360vision-scythe tailed centaurs.

While I was busy squeezing off bursts of blaster and slug fire at the hostile, something wet slapped against the back of my helmet. I spun around immediately. What the -

"AGH!" I yelled.

A zombie jumped on me, bearing me down to the ground and making terrifying grabby motions with its hands. Blood dripped all across my armor. Fortunately it was environmentally sealed and would protect against harmful diseases. So long as my suit wasn't punctured, which the zombie was trying to actively do. I put the barrel of my czerka to its chest and fired off the last remaining rounds. Bullets cut through the zombie's flesh, bursting open and deploying pyrophoric gels that ignited on contact. The zombie lit up like a firework.

I managed to get my feet underneath it and kick it off before any real damage got done. But holy cow was that terrifying. Thank you, modern armor. I got to my feet shakily, wincing in pain at my broken ribs as I watched the zombie run around in circles, flames rising from its body, before it collapsed into the sand - flesh charring to a nice chemical warfare black.

A huge sigh escaped my lips. I freakin' hate fighting Forcers. Especially these Sith. Every time their magic powers are kriffing scary as hell. I ejected the mag from my czerka pistol and reloaded, eyes switching to look back at the ensuing fight.

With quick steps, I moved to reposition myself so that my ally wouldn't be in my line of fire, then I opened up on the centaur again with both pistols blazing away. When I was firing in excess of a hundred rounds at the horsething, something had to actually inflict some real damage on him sooner or later. At least, I hoped.

[member="Jared Ovmar"]
[member="Kasamann"]

 

[Matreya]

(Wow. I swear, all of this is getting lame. Seriously if what Im doing is bad say so, dont keep up the ic tones being rude. Also, to note, I used tk and invisibility, to which someone whom uses it as frequent as sleeping and eating, this should be as taxing as running a mile for an olympian runner. I healed him once, something hes quite known for, so again would be as taxing as a boxer punching a bag. And the sole speeding up thing was when his tail struck, to which it was nerfed with oops im across the field. And in regards to 40 foot jump, if thats true then i didnt realize Jared was that high up. I wouldnt want to back out of this had the issues not maintained but i swear to god the level of critique from people doin the same stuff is abysmal. Thus, combined with to much RL drama, Im withdrawing from this.)

Though, yes he was tired, and indeed wounded further then he had been in a time, Kasamann could indeed continue the fight. If he so chose to, the being could probably continue for a really long time, but for now it was about getting the message across to the Fringe, 'Im alive, free, and doing well. Expect presents.' With two of their most noted warriors now wounded, that had to be present. And despite feeling this a successful endeavor, he even still felt that staying and finishing would be best - that karker messed up his eye and all - but instead, the brute prepared to leave.

As he had sailed clear over Jared, the beast had suffered multiple strikes aginast the soft of his underbelly, and they were bleeding excessively. But nothing he wasnt used to. Ashin had made him bleed plenty, and Harrison so long ago broke his skull. Casting up his best, despite meager compared to the prior, Force Cloak Kasamann called out telepathically to his ship that waited nearby.

Then Jared rolled to the ground. Kark. Leaping from atop the pillar he had not known he would land on, the centaur launded in a heap of bloodyness before he could right himself and race in the opposite direction. For a human being, shooting at something running 80 'accurately' was rather difficult, but this man did it well. Well enough to strike him hard against the back right hip, causing him to once more tumble and roll.

But before either could do anything further, Kasamann was gripped by a lowered down claw. As the ship flew away, Kasamann watched his opponets get smaller and smaller. Lets get out of here and to a medic. Kasamann called up to the pilot as he began to bring him quickly within.

 

[Marcus Tritum]

A noncommittal grunt escaped my lips as I watched the centaur fly away. The expression of disbelief on my face probably would've been pretty funny, but the crowd missed out due to my helmet. Thank the Force for those things. They really keep my reputation intact.

Breathing heavily, I kicked the corpse of the burning zombie to make sure it was really dead, then I started the walk over to my ally. My shoulders were slightly hunched, because my damn ribs felt like I'd just been kicked by a horse. My eyes roved across the arena. Didn't see anyone left alive. Looked like me and this fella were the only ones left. The only sounds were the soft crunch of my boots against the sand and the dull thrum of the crowd. Anticipation hung in the air.

When I got over to the one other living person in the arena I holstered my Czerka Machine Pistol and held out a hand to help him up to his feet. He had a nasty leg wound from that scythe. Couldn't tell if it had pierced a major artery or not. Bloodflow was fairly heavy. Best to get him to a hospital real quick just to be on the safe side.

"Thanks mister," I said, hand hovering above him, wondering if he'd take it.

[member="Jared Ovmar"]

 

[Arage Bao]

The coward fled, and I could only look on with surprise. Those ten kinetite balls should have exploded on impact, ripping his gut into shreds, and possibly even cutting the fether in half. Seemed the man was even more resilient than Ashin Varanin herself. Mattered not in the end, now I knew for certain the man was still alive, in a different body but a traitor regardless. I was coming for him, and next time he wouldn't be able to flee that easily.

One thing life on the streets had thought me, was to always be careful for shenanigans. So when the man extended his hand, I only looked it with a decent amount of wariness and then attempted to stand up in a graceful manner myself.

‘Course graceful wasn’t exactly the word to describe my painful transition from sitting around on my ass, to standing up straight with a straight back. But I digress.

“Ain’t over yet, lad. There are still two men left.”​

There was more bravado in my words, than I actually felt. I saw him dispatching the Avat-- Elementalist, he was a right sort of danger. Didn’t really have much trust in my chances, especially with the darn leg. Though that doesn’t mean he has to know about that.

So I carried on, as if I was the all powerful man, who had dispatched the entirety of the arena with only a thought. Which.. I kinda did, I guess. But I think I am the only one who knows how much energy that had costed me.

Instead of letting it go that far though, I decided to try a different angle. I concentrated my will, and around us a bubble of the Force appeared. Usually translucent, for this occasion it was darkened from the outside.

No one would see what was happening there just yet.

Why?

Because it was then that I removed my mask.

“You know me?”​

​

[member="Dak Canton"]​

 

[Marcus Tritum]

The guy didn't take my hand. Little rude, but we were still in the middle of the arena. Couldn't really blame him for it. My BTI Ripper was subtly raised enough so that the barrel was pointing at his kneecaps rather than pointing straight down at the ground. The fella' wore a mask that obscured his features. Lots of Forcers seemed to enjoy doing that. Hell, even I was doing it in a roundabout way.

He had a good point. There were only two of us left. I spared a quick glance at the arena beyond him. (Darkened helmet visors are great for not telegraphing everyone where you're looking. Highly recommend. Must have.) Dead bodies littered the sand. The corpses were curled in various stages of pain. Some of them only had red gashes where their eyes used to be and their fingers still dripped with fresh blood. I shuddered inwardly and my gaze flicked back to the man just as he was taking off his mask.

Did I know who he was? Of course I knew. He was one of the High Councillors. Jared freaking Ovmar. And he had just caused an entire arena full of people willing to actually fight and die for the Fringe to claw their own kriffing eyes out. Something inside me burned like the nine hells. Nobody deserved to die that way. Especially not my people. Our people. But he'd done it anyway. As a kriffing side effect to just get at the centaur. A cold grip wrapped around my heart and squeezed, forming a hard knot in my chest.

"Yeah, I know," I rasped.

Then I snapped my arm up a few inches, dragging the barrel up from his kneecaps to his stomach, and hip fired on a High Councillor of the Fringe with my fully automatic blaster pistol from point blank range. Images of the dying souls in the arena flashed before my eyes. I squeezed down on the trigger and didn't let go.

[member="Jared Ovmar"]