Korriban: Where Madness Reigns - Fight Two

[Sapphire Storm]

Credit for the image goes to Tiberius Viris on ArtStation​

It was the middle of the day on the Sith world of Korriban. The sun sat high in the sky, beating down upon the red, rocky surface of the planet mercilessly. The air itself seemed to shimmer with the heat, unable to withstand the harsh gaze of the sun without losing its integrity. In the distance stood the temple, claiming the lives of the unworthy even now, as two contestants made their way to the battle location and prepared to fight until one was victorious over the other. Rocky outcroppings rose all around, forming a natural arena of sorts. Paving the ground of the makeshift arena were rocks, most of which were little more than pebbles. One, however, stood above all the rest. It stood at waist height and made up the centre point of the rocky, uneven fighting ground, serving as a focal point for the bout.

Two combatants stood on opposite sides of the arena, rock outcroppings rising around them in every direction. Both combatants were members of the Sacred Band of Ziost. Von Novastrider was a former mercenary that has since pledged his loyalty to the Sith Brotherhood, whereas Dalrel Anater'zin was a Falleen doctor. The question then became: would the doctor overcome the mercenary, or would the mercenary do what he did best? Regardless of their experience; regardless of their place in the Brotherhood, upon this field they were equals, and before the day was done one would emerge victorious, while the other would emerge much worse for wear, but alive, even if they were lacking a limb or two.

@Tsoibe @Topher Ridge

 

[Dalrel Anater'Zin]

Dalrel's eyes were fixed in to the large temple of Korriban, the pulsating heart of the faith of the Sith that the sun embraced with its merciless heat and light. It's build was an epitome of the old Sith, a monument to their strength and ingenuity. Now it glistened in the midday's sun, the air around it seeming to boil from the intensity, obscuring the vision of any who set eyes on it from such a distance. The Falleen found strength in this symbol of their faith, watching over the reckless fights that would ensure only the mightest would proof successful in this tournament.

He came to this remote location with his speeder, which is now parked a safe distance away from the fight. He would not want to carry his equipment all the way here, but now he had arrived, he had doned his armor, which would give him the nice benefit of atmospheric filtering, making the heat of the sun a bit more bearable compared to the naked skin or simply cloth. It would still become very hot and unpleasurable in short time, especially if the fight involved the amount of action to be expected. He held the vibrosword casually in his right hand, though his cybernetic fingers are locked around it in a tight grip. He did not put on his helmet, the integrated function and protection might have been a boon, but it was quite difficult to retain an overview of one's surrounding with it. His blaster carabine was still on his belt, easily accessible on his left, so he can pick it up with his free hand.

He patiently waited for his opponent to arrive. Von had fought and survived quite a few battles himself, he was sure this would not be as easy as eliminating a bunch of civilian security guards. Furthermore, Dalrel did not see the need to bring a whole armory with himself and in terms of increasing the chance of survival for both participants even let most of his repertoire of poisons at the base, at least the deadly ones. As far as he knew Von, he would assume the mercenary would rather have all his weapons with him, but that remained to be seen. His eyes narrowed slightly, as he starred into the heat, still waiting for Von to arrive at the small, natural arena that will be the place of their showdown. He stood at the ready, the blade at his side, ready to be pulled up in defense.

@Topher Ridge

 

[Topher Ridge]

Von ship could be heard coming in once he was 500 yards out. He sat the yatch down a reasonable distance away from the arena. Von was already in his armor and as he left the cockpit he grabbed his pistols, baton, both his vibroknives, 2 flashbangs, and he of course always had his electrodart launcher. As the ramp lowered he stepped down and made the short walk to the arena. Von just happened to arrive on the opposite end of the arena to his opponent.

He could see the Falleen, armored, and ready to fight. He didn't know a ton about the man besides, the fact that he was a doctor and specialized in poisons. He seemed to be holding that vibrosword with relative comfort though so he wouldn't under estimate him. He then gave a good look over their "arena". The merc's critical eye took note of as many details as possible. The rock outcroppings surrounding the arena would offer decent cover if it came to blasters, especially the one in the center. The ground was lose stone, so neither of them would have the greatest footing, so they would have to make every step deliberately, and carefully.

He drew and extended his baton in his right hand, leaving his left hand open to draw other weapons if necassary and slowly began to make his way across the arena. Von figured one of them would have to move forward and it might as well be him.

 

[Dalrel Anater'Zin]

Dalrel looked at his opponent as they approached each other. He held the sword casually in his hand. The rough, rocky surface beneath his feet would make it difficult for both to retain a sure footing. A mutual disadvantage Dalrel intended to capitalize on. He tightened his grip on the vibrosword even further, the cybernetic muscles clamping down around it. Shortly before they came in reach of each other, he lifted the sword from its position and pushed it towards Von in one forward motion, along with the weight of his body, aiming for the left side of his opponent. Intend on retaining the range advantage of his weapons, he would quickly redraw his blade and bring it into a defensive swipe to redirect the likely following returning strike of Von.

 

[Dalrel Anater'Zin]

Von had as many weapons with him as he could carry and that was probably what slowed him down. The Falleen's piercing strike, aimed for a spot that would not necesserily be deadly, but very painful and immobilizing, struck true. The sharp, slightly vibrating blade of the sword cut along the hip of the mercenary. The armor of the warrior took most of the blow, but the momentum and suprising strength of the hit would drive the blade deeper, removing a good part of the protection at the area hit. Dalrel's lips turned into a sly smirk as he withdrew his blade, stepping back into a defense ready position. It should not be that easy, at least Von had performed tge same deed as he did years ago, defeating a Sith in a duel atop Ziost.

"Please, brother, it would be much more entertaining, if you at least put on a fight", the doctor taunted his opponent, still clutching the vibrosword in his cybernetic hand. He held the blade slightly in front of him, prepared to defend against any retailatory attack by the other warrior, as he evaluated the next course of action. Without wasting much more time he stepped forth again, trusting the sharp blade and installed cutting mechanism to provide the power for the strike, as he used it much like a fencing weapon. The stab was aimed for the left shoulder of his opponent, as he side-stepped to the left himself to maintain his range advantage. At the same time, he pulled the bladter carabine from its belt, the magnetix hold disabling with a press on the button, to aim it at the already damaged armor. The blaster had been set to stun before, there is no need to cause additional work for him to fix afterwards.

@Topher Ridge

 

[Topher Ridge]

Damn cyber arm!

Von had made the almost fatal error of not noticing the arm that held the vibrosword was cybernetic. He cursed to himself as the blade hit his hip just as he was stepping back to dodge. He grunted as he finished the backwards step and could see his opponent also step back. The Falleen clearly planned to use the range of his sword to keep Von at bay. He decided to not play his game.

He pulled a pistol from his left hip and fired off a shot aimed at Dalrel's right shoulder. If the shot connected he'd follow up with another shot at the doctor's shoulder. If the shot missed he would quickly roll behind the outcropping in the center of the arena.

 

[Topher Ridge]

@Tsoibe