Hunting the Huntress

[Mars]

The jungle world was teeming with wildlife. Countless species ran unchecked throughout the uncharted world, little sentient life to stop them from doing so. For a Force sensitive, the place was a serene haven to meditate and become more in tune with their surrondings.

Not that any of that mattered to the new Mandalore, he was as Force sensitive as a brick.

Yavin Four represented little more then an opportunity to regain a lost asset, a former Mandalore responsible for uniting many of the clans that recently fell beneth his rule. Her exile was one hell of a black eye for the large Solus clan. The engines of the Mandalorian assault ship shattered the silence of the planet, ruining the serene nature. His ship landed in a small clearing, the Mandalore piloting his ship steadily and perfectly onto the grassy land.

Vincent exited the ship looking rather intimidating, his gun-metal grey Beskar'gam seemingly consuming any sunlight and giving away no signs of his presence. His famed assault rifle was slung across his back and his Ripper holstered on his right hip. The transparasteel visor of his helmet revealed only his piercing blue-green eyes and his Beskad sat in their sheaths overlapping in an "X" on his upper back. A HUD activated instantly, scanning for all forms of life in the area, nothing in the nearest two hundred meters around him.

And so begins the hunt....

 

[Sreeya]

She had become a hunter, moving as silently as death itself. She could spring upon her enemies before they knew what hit them. Her yellow eyes always watched, waited, calculated. She knew she had to escape and go back to her people, but exile was a harsh term. During the first few days of being banished, she had all but destroyed everything around her. She uprooted trees, killed any animals in the vicinity and screamed at the top of her lungs, a wretched howl that would send chills down the spines of any battle hardened warrior.

Her armor was taken away, along with her primary weapons. She was stripped of everything, her title, her dignity, everything. She had not even been able to see her brother before being brutally cast out of her own clan, forced to endure her punishment in solitude. The war waged on without her and she remained in the sidelines, fuming and trapped with the painful knowledge that she could never go back. It wasn't the loss of the title that bothered her. It was losing her family, her brothers and sisters and her clan. She had others that looked up to her as their leader and she had failed them.

Anger had been twisted into a thirst for vengeance. As time wore on, however, survival was her ultimate goal. She had remained within the forests, becoming an animal, a hunter and a predator of the night. She had thrived on her own, her stealth techniques growing more honed day by day. She was an avid climber, often hiding up in trees where no one could spot her. The only remaining armor she had left was her mask, the last remaining symbol of her clan, Clan Solus. The clan had shown great promise, and she had met with Tusa himself to unite all Taungs under the banner of her clan. All of that meant nothing now. Now she was an exile, an unchained beast.

She resided deep within the forest, taking up sanctuary within the compartment of an abandoned ship. She seldom slept, always tracking and hunting. She had heard the foreign ship arrive long before it touched down. She remained within the shadows, quietly making her way towards the source of the noise. She had been bound when she was first exiled, but it took a matter of days to break out. However, the cuffs still hung from her left hand, the only noise that would erupt as she made her way towards the ship that had landed.

 

[Mars]

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Something broke into Vincent's two hundred meter bubble of detection and was closing fast. He reminded himself that the Mandalore had been stripped of all her belongings not long before her harsh exile to the uninhabbited planet. She was a ruthless killer, but she got things done and Vinny needed someone like that more then anything.

Clink clink.

The newest Mandalore spun around to the noise of what were formerly restraints to contain the mighty huntress hitting the floor as she attempted to move stealthily towards him. His hand flung to his ripper at his side, immediately drawing and training the sites on her, he had zero intentions of killing her but his own health was more important then hers.

"Don't move, Kal, I will shoot." His voice was firm as he spoke, not giving any inclination that he was bluffing, and it was damn unlikely he'd miss. "I'm here to bring you back." Wait for it, here it comes....

"I know what you did already, I'm willing to look past that, if you're willing to cooperate I can have you returned to nearly your previous glory and honor."

 

[Sreeya]

Damn.

Her cuffs. The damn things always gave her away. She grimaced behind the mask, her yellow eyes narrowing as the figure in front of her whipped around. She did not move a muscle, though she retained the stance of a predator ready to pounce. When he spoke, Kal almost broke that stance, mainly from the pure shock of hearing her name. She had not been addressed by her name in a long time. The title of Mandalore was one that she wore with pride, and the only other being to refer to her by name had been her own brother. Now...now she was simply Kal. Nothing more. More curious than that was the fact that this man knew her name.

She remained silent, easing her posture. Bring her back? What was he on about? Kal could see the outline of his body and could smell him. He was no Taung. How, then, did he know about her? As he continued, Kal's eyes widened in shock. This man knew about her exile and the details involved! Anger made her blood boil as she curled her fingers into fists. Her eyes roamed over his body, noting the trademark design. He was the new Mandalore! She had known there was a replacement since her reign, yet this man had defeated him and taken his place. This...this man that wasn't even a Taung. Kal jerked her arm forward, a blade protruding out above her hand. It was a makeshift weapon, a means of gutting her prey. She knew he was far more armored than her, but it was merely a gesture that she was not pleased.

"Who are you and why do you know about me?"

 

[Mars]

The blade slinking out of it's hidden position and down Kal's arm was certainly reason for alarm, not that Vincent's own armor didn't have a plethora of ways to deal with a potential problem, but most of those were lethal and he'd like to avoid that if at all possible. She was quite ticked off, that much was quite clear.

"Vincent A'den, to answer your first question. Think calmly, you will know my name for one reason or another, I've yet to meet a Taung with no knowledge of me whatsoever." He said, his voice strangely calm considering the fact that the former Mandalore stood a few yards from him with a weapon drawn.


"As far as how I know of you, I've taken control of our people in your absence. Your replacement was a lazy fool who sat around, which is never good. Mishuk gotal'u meshuroke, pako kyore. Either way, if I am to truely unite the clans and keep our people moving forward, I will need your aid. Ruthless or otherwise, you were efficient in rule. The clans trusted you more then any leader in recent memory before you were exposed. I offer a return to former glory."

The new Mandalore kept his distance from the angered huntress, the flamethrower on his wrist charged and the handgun in his hands prepared to fire in the event she leapt forward to bring the assault.

 

[Sreeya]

Kal gritted her teeth behind her mask. She was disappointed within herself for not personally choosing her successor. As a result, a fool had been allowed to rise to power. For a moment, she worried about several members of the clan that had been tolerated simply because they followed her. The thought was pushed out of her mind within a moment, her keen eyes trailing down to his flamethrower. He was packed with armors and weapons, but the former Mandalore was not impressed. Kal sized him up, her eyes scanning over his entire body. She grinned as he spoke.

"A favorite of the slug. That's why you're no Taung and throw around the title."

Although her outward attitude was less than kind, his earlier words about bringing her back to her clan had struck a chord. She had wanted nothing more than to be united with her people once more. However, her pride would push that thought back. She had to know that this Mandalore was worthy. Kal kept her eyes on him, though her arms reached back and unclasped the makeshift plated armor. The plate fell to the ground, along with the rest of her mediocre armor. She was donned only in her layers of clothing, the blades on her wrists falling to the ground as well. Kal left the mask on, her long dread-like strands of hair falling to her back. She began to circle him, though her strides were ginger and calculated.

"Prove yourself, and then we talk."

She jerked her head up, indicating his copious amounts of armor and weaponry. Though she was xenophobic, she measured a being's worth by his skills and not species. Kal finally stopped circling, beckoning him to attack her.

 

[Mars]

The former-Mandalore removed her makershift armor and weapons as she prepared to test the challenger in front of him. This would be the defining moment in Vincent's life, his true ascension to the position of Mandalore as he defeated the former in combat. No help or aid from technology. This was where the near-human hybrid shined.

His ripper went straight into the drop-leg holster on his thigh as his advanced Beskar'gam powered down. The beskar-helmet deattached with a soft hiss and a click as the locks disengaged and he set it to the floor next him. Before long he had striped of all his exterior plating, revealing a heavily muscular body covered in scars from various wounds over the years. Simple clothing covered the majority of the aforementioned scars and musculature.

All of Vincent's life he'd been an outcast, and even here one of the Taung doubted him even after having proven himself countless times and taking leadership of the clans. His face showed no emotion as he assumed his fighting stance, hands up, chin down, weight on his rear leg. He stood but a few meters from her.

He'd make the first move, closing the distance to the edge of his striking range and flicking out a jab with his left, lead hand. It was merely testing the waters, seeing what his opponent was capable of, to see what she had for him.

 

[Sreeya]

Kal watched him shed his armor. She was pleased that he did not attempt to talk her out of a battle. He knew about Taung tradition after all. She patiently waited for him, loosening her stance to remain light on her feet. Kal saw the punch coming in, headed directly towards her face. The Taung remained unfazed, her mind calculating and always working to think up counters. As his punch came, she raised her left hand up, contrary to the common counters. Her left hand caught the punch, sending a wave of pain, though she did not remain to feel the full effects of the impact.

As Kal caught the punch, she pivoted to his left, out of range of his right hand and still gripping his left hand. Her right fist came into an arc horizontally to collide with the left side of his face. Granted that her pivot was allowed, she would be laterally aligned with his left side, out of immediate range of his arms. Kal was also wary of any kicks that may come her way.

 

[Mars]

As Kal grabbed his fist, Vincent's mind immediatly went to work producing a counter for her attack, a right hand coming over his jab. He bent his knees and planted his weight on his back leg, the right hand whizzing just over his head and leaving her centerline open as he turned to face her and unleashed a brutal right handed uppercut bound for his opponent's chin. The attack would be followed by a left hook aimed for the right side of Kal's face, aimed just beneth her eye, thrown with bad intentions just like the uppercut.

 

[Sreeya]

He was fast, there was no doubt about it. However, she wouldn't let him move away that easily. She felt her punch hit thin air, but her eyes remained on him the entire time. As he moved to face her, she moved with him, remaining off to his left side. She saw the uppercut coming directly at her, slightly off to the side. Instead of simply retracting her initial punch, she made one fluid motion to turn her block into a brutal attack at the same time. Her right arm, already somewhat horizontal tilted to be slightly diagonal as she yanked it back towards herself. In the process, she knocked his upper cut off course by perpendicularly clashing her fist against the inside of his wrist to move his hand away. The motion tilted her elbow towards him and it launched up to harshly collide with his jaw.

However, in her haste to do the double block and assault combo, she had missed his second attack. Kal saw his left hand fly in at the last second, the impact to the side of her face sending her reeling. She remained engaged, however, sporting a nasty bruise and possibly a cut behind the mask. She couldn't judge the injury yet, but it would take a lot more to send her back.

 

[Mars]

Vincent felt his first strike hit nothing, parried aside by a deft block by the warrior princess of the Taungs. His left hook landed hard across her face, impacting the mask with a dull thud as her elbow cracked him right in the mouth, splitting his lip and spilling the first blood of the combat. She stayed within range though, so Vincent launched a left-hook, right-hook combo, each shot streaking in with blinding speed and power, accuracy being one of Vincent's better traits, each strike bound for the sides of her face, just below the eyesocket. Immediatly following the second hook, he'd throw a knee strike bound for her solar plex, but if she ducked to avoid either knee, she'd sooner catch it on her chin.

 

[Sreeya]

Kal was satisfied to learn that her elbow had landed as targeted. He was completely unfazed, another impressive trait. In fact, he had recovered instantly and launched attacks right off the bat. She saw the two jabs coming, but she knew better than to catch the fist this time. As his left hook came in, she kept her open palm and swept in with her left hand, not her leading hand which had left her exposed earlier. With a simple motion, she swiped the punch away, keeping her arms close to her body. As if launching a cross, her right hand swiped his right hand away in quick succession and timed with his punches. As she did so, she once again pivoted slightly off to his left, clearly designating it as her preferred position.

As she pivoted slightly, she did not retract her right hand from the swipe. Her palm had been open, so all she did was tilt the hand diagonally and lash the hand out into a slanted knife hand thrust aimed directly for his throat, using the edge of her hand. The pivot had allowed her to avoid the knee. Her left hand came up again, following her knife hand thrust. The fleshy part where her hand met her wrist flew in to slam into his solar plexus. However, the diagonal position altered it to where it came in towards his ribs with enough force to break one or two. With his knee raised, she hoped to catch him off balance with her second attack.

 

[Mars]

Her movements were more fluid and, so far, more efffective then his. Both his hooks were batted aside and his knee missed wildly as her hand bounced off his iron chin, the strike intended for the throat, but the strike intended for the solar plex landing hard and driving the wind from his lungs as he stumbled backwards. Before long, he re-gained his composure, spitting the bloody saliva from his mouth and returning to his stance. A grin was played across his face as he had finally found a worthy opponent.

Again he stepped forward to continue the dance of battle, to feel the rush of personal combat. Right into striking range he went, flicking a feinted jab with his left before coming around with a spinning heel kick using his right leg. Considering her tendancy to continusly move to his left when faced with any form of offense, the heel should catch her clean across her face as he came around.

 

[Sreeya]

Kal was a graceful warrior, but she tended to have patterns. It was a flaw she knew she had, yet found it difficult to avoid. The keen fighter she faced had caught on instantly. As he launched the punch, she fell for it. As before, Kal shifted to his left, aiming to bat the arm aside and attack the exposed left flank. She briefly wondered why he repeated the motion. She got her answer a moment later as he whirled around. Kal's eyes widened right before his foot collided with her face. There was a crack as her mask shattered and she felt the taste of blood explode inside her mouth. Kal staggered back and yanked the mask off, finally revealing her angular face to him. Her skin had a grayish tint, yet the face was quite humanoid. Her eyes were yellow, her face sporting a cut from his earlier attack. Kal spat blood to the side, returning the grin he offered.

No words were spoken as she jumped back into the fray. She came in with a right hook, but it was a feint. As she did so, she pivoted slightly off to his right. Her left arm came up to hook behind the back of his neck. She attempted to pull his head downward while launching her right knee upwards to slam it right into his face.

 

[Mars]

Vincent's grin grew as his spinning strike slammed across Kal's face and shattered the mask that concealed her face. For a Taung, she was almost pretty, then again maybe it was the boobs. The right hook was a blatant feint, Vincents arm shifting ever so slightly to block it in case of it being a real threat. As she moved in to wrap her left hand around his neck, Vincent quickly embraced her in a quick kiss as their faces got close, shortly after launching a vicious elbow strike just below the solar plexus and right on the diaphragam, their bodies too close for her to effectively throw her knee strike.

What an odd scene.

 

[Sreeya]

OoC: Jackass!!!

Kal had successfully grabbed a hold of him, beginning to bring him down to slam her knee up. As she prepped her kick, she was completely shocked when he abruptly kissed her. Kal's eyes widened in surprise, at first not processing what had happened. The action was completely unexpected and threw her off. She could not focus for a moment, something that cost her dearly. Using the distraction to his advantage, he elbowed her right on the diaphragm. As a result, she doubled over and spat a sickening mixture of blood and saliva directly into his mouth. This was a quick revenge for his disrespectful action, though she did not mull over the cheap trick.

She quickly withdrew from him, maintaining a small measure of distance. Her right fist came in for a real jab this time, right to the side of his face. Her left fist came in for a cross, aimed for the opposite side of his visage, both punches firing off in quick succession. She was light on her feet, taking a boxer's stance. She knew this would turn into an all out brawl. Both warriors had blood spilling from their mouths and neither showed signs of backing down.

 

[Mars]

Vincent's deep laughter was cut slightly short by the dumping of blood and saliva into his mouth, causing him to spit it out in a fine mist towards Kal's face as she backed away briefly. As she came forward again with the jab-cross combo, he parried the jab with his left hand, directing it off to his left side as he bent his knees and threw another right elbow strike directed at her body, the left cross skimming the top of his hair as he threw the vicious strike. If it landed, he'd follow up by shooting for a double-leg takedown, driving forward and scooping up her legs and slamming downwards, changing the dynamic of the fight to somewhere most weren't comfortable.

 

[Sreeya]

Kal felt his elbow hit again, though she had prepared for it this time, catching it in her toughly built abdomen. She did not expect the abrupt take down, however. Because she had been watching his motions, she was not caught completely off guard. As she began to fall, her left arm crossed right over the back of his neck, over his right shoulder, putting his head right below her left armpit area. Her right arm slid under his left armpit. The two hands clasped together over his neck as she applied a harsh choke on him. The pressure on his neck was aimed to cut off bloodflow to his brain, air to his lungs and limit his arm movements.

As she landed while doing the choke, her legs immediately came up to wrap around his waist to lock him into a guard, a fluid motion from him scooping her legs up. Kal intended to trap him while slowly choking him. She knew the position would limit his movements, but she had to find a way to ultimately end up on her feet again.

 

[Mars]

By choosing to flow with Vincent's takedown as opposed to putting forth an effort to stop it from happening, Kal allowed the powerful warrior to grab her up into a powerful slam towards the floor. Lifting her with his hands behind her thighs and using his shoulder to drive into her gut, he slammed her smaller body into the floor beneth him, breaking her hold modified choke attempt and standing up inside her guard and begining a vicious asssault as he began to rain punches down aimed towards the face of the former Mandalore.

 

[Sreeya]

Kal was momentarily stunned as she slammed into the ground, her choke failing as a result. She felt blinding pain travel up her face as his first punch landed. Her head turned to the side and a tooth was spat out, along with even more blood. However, she was still on guard, recovering quickly before he could lay a barrage of punches on her. Before the second one came, she threw her arms above her to block them as she had on her feet. Her left arm laterally swiped to the left to knock his right arm out of the way, while the right arm did so to his left. As her right arm knocked his left aside, her hand hooked underneath his left arm to grab a hold of him. As the same time, her left hand came up to rest against the right side of his face. Using the leverage, she shoved him over to her right, lifting her leg up to move his massive torso off of her. As soon as he would be even slightly off her to her right, she would roll and rise to her feet once more.