Conflict of Interests, Part II
Posted on Fri Oct 12th, 2012 @ 3:03am by Thane & Bomoor Thort & Sev Rezer & Mentis & Berry & Trey†
Edited on on Fri Jul 26th, 2019 @ 1:30pm
2,586 words; about a 13 minute read
Chapter:
Chapter I: Web of Fate
Location: Alley, Nar Shaddaa
Timeline: Day Two, Morning (straight after "Quarry")
OLD
With Thane now covering the Rattataki, Bomoor was suddenly aware of the other dark Jedi approaching very fact from behind. Bomoor had just enough time to revitalise before Trey's blade flew down upon him. Bomoor pushed the blade back and began a strike of his own, sweeping to his opponent's side with great speed and clashing sabers. Bomoor had switched to Ataru, the fast-paced form favoured by Trey himself. The strikes between the pair were quick and indistinguishable to those without the ability to sense their movement in the force. Bomoor felt his energy leaving him as it often did, only this time a weakness in his technique could be fatal.
NEW
Trey smiled faintly at the Ithorian as they dueled. Maybe this mission wasn’t a dud after all. His dark energy flared as his moves increased in speed.
Berry’s brows knit as she jumped in place, trying to see beyond the chaotic blur of the glow sticks. “Eye Guy, do something!” she cried to Mr. Razor. “Don’t you have lasers??!”
"Shut up", he said, eyes fixed in the fight, as he was looking for something.
The fluctuations in the air, all this aggression and concentration—a part of her was tugging toward it. Berry pouted. She wasn’t in the jungle, but she could adapt. Water magic was so cool in that the water was everywhere…in the air, in the Jedis…and in the wall. She started running toward it, jumping up. It looked like she was going to climb it like some kind of weird alien, but in the split second before Nar Shadda’s gravity took hold, she pushed off. It wasn’t just any push, however. Water magic always made her faster when she wanted to be, and her fists stronger than they normally were. Her fists were now above her head as her body streamlined into a narrow form. The wall behind her slowly fell apart as she rocketed toward the fight, her hair flying straight backwards with one target in mind—the nearest red-glowy wielder.
Without effort, Trey stepped to the side, his saber busy spitting sparks with the Ithorians. He cocked an eyebrow at the female’s antics. Seemed like someone crazier with the Force than him was involved in this lethal lightsaber lashing. How…uncharacteristic of two Jedis.
Bomoor turned as he felt the young girl flying towards them, "Berry! No!" he shouted. He summoned more strength to force Trey back, away from where Berry was heading. But the move left him rather open and Bomoor had barely any time to react before Trey sped forward and flung Bomoor's lightsaber from his hand. The beam retracted and the hilt rolled off towards the other fighters.
Berry yelped, her eyes widening as her fists impacted the ground where the bad guy had just stood. She bounced off, still flying forward but this time with her body flailing. She left behind a large indent in the metal, grimy ground, as well as a “Soooorry Booooomy!” trailing after her in the air.
Trey gave Bomoor a vicious smile, one of great confidence in his victory. He swung his saber back and launched it forward towards the exposed neck of the Ithorian. The Jedi brought his hands up in a final defence as the saber sped towards him. Thane was too far away to help now, even if he sensed his friend's danger.
Then the blade stopped and shot backwards as if it were metal-against-metal. Bomoor had summoned a Force technique. The ability to deflect energy using only the Force - a protection bubble. A brief moment of shielding was all that was needed to send the lightsaber flying backwards and Trey with it. Bomoor used the last of his strength to send a massive blast of force at the open target, sending him through the weak wall behind him.
The opposite wall speeded towards her, and the part-Aquar brought her arms up to shield herself. She slammed into the wall, the side of the edifice destroyed. Water magic could be such a great cushion sometimes, but she wasn't in the water and forgot how fast she could be. The impact had her flying the other way, wildly toward the other red-glowy stick guy, her eyes wide in surprise. Now she had nothing to push against with her water magic…like a fish out of water. A sitting avian. A barnacle drying out in the low tide. Stuck.
With his body spinning quickly back and forth, Thane's twin red and violet blades came around against Mentis' quickly, the Human hoping to knock back the Dark Jedi's even faster and sharper single-bladed moves. In a split-second decision, Thane jumped a good few metres back and threw his stolen blade straight at Mentis. In the short moment it bought him, he switched back into his more comfortable duelling form - the same Makashi that the Rattataki was using.
With his rage unabated - arguably even intensified by the lightsaber throw - Mentis moved towards Thane with fluid speed, his blade supported by both of his pale white hands as he made quick cuts, but with a surprising amount of strength, at the Jedi's one-handed use of the form. Parrying the blows quickly, Thane already had his plan mapped out, and continued to let Mentis make his aggressive assault. With each twist of the blade, the Human let the Rattataki make advances on him, and he could feel his opponent's bloodlust and overconfidence grow within him; he was even more typical of a darksider than the other Human he had faced moments before.
A strength welled within the Rattataki, a surge of rage centred on his Jedi target. He brought his saber down with great force - aiming for a Sai cha strike to decapitate his foe. The Jedi blocked his advances but he seemed to have slowed. Mentis smirked, he must have tired the poor human and he was now ready to go for the kill. He gritted his teeth as he struck with greater ferocity, again and again. He could almost taste the blood spilling out as he sliced through his neck.
And then, suddenly, the blade slice through air, giving Mentis only the briefest of moments to turn and block against the violet blade swinging around from behind him. Thane, gorged on the extreme use of emotion and surge of anger that the Rattataki was releasing, calling heavily upon the Force to channel such hatred into his own being. With Trey, it had been a struggle of wills; the double-blade wielding foe had a lot of control, his emotions more focused on greed - this enemy was different. Mentis was raw, and passionate about his feelings, his mind weaker than Thane's. His moves, whilst fast, had become predictable, allowing him to lend his concentration to stealing his energy, feeding from it.
Now, he could truly indulge himself in the fight, his blade swinging even faster than Mentis' had, from so many angles it was hard to tell from where. The more-refined seventh form of lightsaber combat - Vaapad - was a merciless foe, living off of the practitioner's own enjoyment of the battle, using their own anger to fuel their speed and power, whilst also stealing the energy from the opponent, as Mentis was now discovering, as Thane's blade assaulted him over and over anger. Whilst Thane's experience in the form - as with his ability in Jar'Kai dual-wielding - was not well-established, Mentis' own inexperience and eagerness had played into it well as the Human laid into his foe.
Battering him further and further back, Thane lost awareness of the rest of the conflict, of his allies and of the world around him. The universe had contracted into nothing more than his lightsaber and its target, swinging exceptionally quickly, at all of the Rattataki's limbs and head, always only narrowly missing. Makashi served his foe no purpose, and with his tiredness growing, a defence against Vaapad was proving almost impossible, until - as Thane pressed him further and further back - a massive double-cut ended the duel, the first sending the Rattataki's blade flying away, and the second skimming across the side of his face, the pale skin instantly being seared and cauterised in an instant, before Thane knocked his foe to the ground with an elbow into his nose, cartilage and bone crunching under the impact.
Berry gaped from a ways off, having landed on her butt somehow. These guys were crazy! Especially how Pale Guy felt a bit like Super Pale Guy...scary.
Another was also surprised. Trey frowned, as if slightly annoyed despite the sweat on his brow. This wasn't looking so good, and he wasn't having fun anymore. He spun his saber around as he hovered outside the Jedis' range, and he watched the Mandalorian warily. "Hey, Mentis...let's get going, eh? I don't feel like sweating anymore."
Sev Rezer brought his arm high and as his arm went down, an electric whip flew forward, grabbing Trey on the arm. Thousands of megajoules of energy went straight for the Dark Jedi. Rezer, wasn't finished, though. He threw his other arm forward Trey was also engulfed laser fire from his rifle. "Sweat this, shabuir".
Mentis fell to the ground clutching his face. The lightsaber had scorched his skin and blood poured out of his nose where Thane had crushed it, "Trey!" he roared, anger still pulsing through him, "You can't leave - Axion wants both the Jedi dead!"
Trey's hair stood on end as he reached out to the arcs coming from the bounty hunter's whip. He summoned what was left of his concentration and seemed to grab at the bolts, feeling a tingle as he took some into his own body. But there was just too much, and in seconds the human seized up and jerked around before falling to the ground, his muscle's natural electric signalling over-ridden.
As soon as the electric barrage had ended, he drew in a breath, eyes wide as he felt around for his familiar power. Some feeling came back into his limbs, and he struggled to his feet to meet the laser fire head on. The human tore off his flaming shirt as he deflected the laser fire with his spinning lightsaber, his moves sluggish as he stumbled from the remnants of the electric shock. He wasn't as skilled with manipulating the Force as he would've liked, and his hands shone black in spots where the electricity had found him. There was more damage inside, though, his vision woozy and fingers tingly. He gazed intensely at the Mandalorian, a small smile forming on his slightly singed face, his panting slowing. "I'd like to stick around for more, old man...but I'm not into threesomes today." He cast the Jedi a look before glancing at Mentis. "Axion will understand why we failed. Your face explains it perfectly." He chuckled and threw rubble at the others, propelling them further with the Force.
Thane slashed quickly at the rubble that flew towards them, what little Bomoor's Force interception did not hold in place, and whilst they quickly defused the danger, it was already too late to follow the two Dark Jedi. Letting his lightsaber drop to his side, the violet blade retracted back into the hilt as Thane watched on where Trey and Mentis had escaped.
His hair and face were damp with sweat, and his chest was heaving whilst his body shook slightly from the intensity of his battle with the Rattataki. The amount of concentration Thane had utilised in drawing on both his enemy's and his own darkness had left him feeling both drained and invigorated, and he could deny the slight pleasure he could feel coursing through him from his victory over Mentis. In a way, he was sorry he did not get to finish his opponent in finality, that his blade had not been that much closer to the cultist's face in that final sweep.
The Jedi Guardian had to force himself to not grin or go in pursuit of his foe, returning his mind to the here and now. "Is everyone okay?" He asked, although it came across slightly as a demand.
"Very drained but no damage done," Bomoor panted, turning towards Berry who was still sitting on the filthy alley floor, "No thanks to you, young one. What was all that jumping about for?"
Berry crossed her arms, pouting slightly. "I tried to hit 'em with my arrow but it didn't work..." She sighed, pout fading as it turned into one of worry, her gaze shifting to the human man. Her expression grew serious, and she stood up, brushing off the seat of her pants. "You guys did really well, though. I knew you could do it!" She beamed a smile at them. "I'll see you later." Then she turned and started walking off to the plaza where there was food.
Sev Rezer stowed his rifle on his back again and check his weapons on the wrists. No damage. He, then, looked at Thane. "Now that Axion knows we're after him, he'll move to get Grogga sooner than before. It'll be tonight." He gave Boomor an critical look. "You better rest. You'll be of no use this way. And you", he said to Thane. "For a Jedi, you've enjoyed fighting too much, haven't you?" He turned around and stalked away. "I'm going to scout ahead. Best way for us to avoid another ambush. Try to stay alive."
"Rezer!" Thane called after the bounty hunter, producing a small chip from one his jacket's inside pockets. He threw it over to the Mandalorian, who caught it with ease (and far quicker than any organic arm could). "It's the channel we'll be using to stay in touch. We'll be in position for when you give the signal."
The Mandalorian turned his head to Thane. "That's a good ad'ika", he said dryly, before disappearing into the alley's shadows.
The Human Jedi eyed him suspiciously as he then continued on his path away, and Thane quickly let his attention fall back to his other companions, noting Berry's departure, but noting she was still in sight. He placed a hand on Bomoor's large shoulder. "I'm going to follow her, see if I can't maybe get through to her; if she gets lost here, or isn't ready for what happens later... who knows what could happen."
He stepped over to where he noticed the fallen Gran's lightsaber had been thrown off to, once again pocketing it before speaking to his friend again. "And keep an eye on that damned bounty hunter, although, I think I may have drawn the short straw on who to keep tabs on," he said, nodding to where Berry had sauntered.
The Ithorian walked over to reclaim his own lightsaber from the ground. He ached as he stooped his large body to the ground. That fight had been a bit too exhilarating for his liking but he was still in one piece.
"Hmph," he groaned, "That subject is debatable. Just don't let her eat too much food, Pale Guy. She bounces off the walls when she's hungry and I don't want to see what she does when she's not!"
THANE
▼ Dark Side Shift
▬ Form VII (Vaapad) Increase
BOMOOR
▬ Protection Bubble Increase
SEV REZER
▬ Eletric Whip skill Increase
▬ Assault Rifle skill Increase
▬ Flamethrower skill Increase
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