Ask Invasion Poor Choices

[Darth Tempest]

.

It was not the first time Darth Tempest had stepped foot on Ailon. As a Champion, she had attempted to bring the planet and its infamous Nova Guard into the Empire diplomatically, only to be rebuffed by the Jedi Order and one meddlesome Knight in particular. Even as the years passed, she had not forgotten the defiance of High Marshall Zeygan - and it was the Dark Lord of the Sith who had come to repay Ailon for it.

Her arrival was deliberately timed. The Galaxy was enveloped in chaos - as the Jedi Order and Galactic Governments scrambled to fight against the Queen Mother of Hapes. The Dark Lord had even sent her own followers to Kashyyyk - taking advantage of the situation to strike back against the Jedi Order. To her mounting displeasure, information from the battlefield had proven the situation to have already taken a turn in the enemy's favor. The Dark Lord had long grown weary of the ineptitude of her followers, and adequate punishment would be delivered when the dust had settled.

For now, their presence on the Wookiee homeworld provided a suitable distraction.

Soldiers of Thule arrived en-mass to Ailon - their crimson armor gleaming against the afternoon sun. It was the first time Tempest had rallied the special forces of her personal fiefdom, concentrating their landing and subsequent assault around the Jedi Temple/Consulate that had since been established on the planet. The fighting had already consumed multiple city blocks and the air directly above, providing their leader with a clear path towards the Temple itself. Curiously, Sith forces made no attempt to progress further into the city or active engage with the Nova Guard preemptively.

Tempest was adorned in her signature armor - donning the mask that had come to be recognized across the Galaxy. The hilt of her lightsaber was curled between the fingers of her left hand, while the secondary hilt remained clipped to her belt. The crimson glow of her blade illuminated the ground beneath her feet, projecting its menacing glow with each and every step that she took. There was little hope for the initial defenders caught in her path. Jedi and Nova Guard alike were cut down by the Dark Lord of the Sith - their mangled bodies left to litter the path that she carved, each methodical step bringing her closer to the Light’s sole bastion on the planet.

There was no mystery for the defenders of Ailon. Without a shadow of a doubt, they would know precisely who had come to reduce their temple to ashes.

Spoiler: OOC notes:

This thread runs concurrent with the events of Kashyyyk. Anyone present in the Flashpoint/side threads would not be able to attend here.

48hr deadline.

Ideally I would like to keep this PvP on the smaller side.

 

[Alexandria Voran]

Peace. For a moment that lasted less than a breath, they had found peace. It shattered the moment Corellia was stolen. The second Kashyyyk was under fire...and in the chaos the Darkness reared again. She should have known better. It was simply never meant to last. Her path had bended towards violence for longer than she cared to admit. That first time she met Max. Those hostages in the warehouse...how they had both sworn to do everything to avoid casualties. That all seemed so long ago.

Well...she supposed that's because it was. Decades now since she had been that woman. Those soft edges all sharpened to hardened points. There was a time she would have mourned the sudden swiftness the galaxy tipped into violence and a part of her was saddened by how quickly it all fell apart.

But

She could not deny war felt more comfortable. It was easier than peace. They knew their enemies and now those enemies knocked on the gate again. For the Sith were not the same as they once were. The Empire had cast them out. Raze was a constant worry in the back of her mind but Sith they stunk of failure. A fraction of what Andruil had built. An Order sent slinking into exile by the people they ruled. That made them desperate and desperation made them dangerous. The beggar with nowhere left to run, pinning for just one victory. So the Sith came to Alion. Searching for a change in fortunate.

They would not find it.

Grandmaster Alexandria Voran stepped from the Temple. Her armor creaking slighting in the wind. White saber in her hand, blue clipped on her hip. The Light flowed through her in an easy tempest. Control built over decades at the head of their Order. A power only one could equal in the galaxy. The monster who had burned Ithor.

The Jedi and Nova Guard alike pushed back around her. For perhaps they knew who had come to Alion...more importantly they knew who the Sith would find defending it.

@Altaris

 

[Darth Tempest]

With every step she took, Tempest expanded her own presence within the Force - a darkness that swept across the battlefield and closed in around the Jedi Temple. It was a palpable weight in the air, a sense of dread that would work its way into the hearts of Jedi and Nova Guard alike. It amplified the anxieties of those all around her, intoxicating as it fed into the Dark Side, threatening to consume everything in its path.

And yet, Tempest felt the bulwark of resistance that emerged to face her. A pure, bastion of the Light - shining valiantly to drive back the chaos wrought by the Dark Lord of the Sith.

Yellow-tinged eyes fixated onto the visage of Grandmaster Voren - briefly bringing Tempest to halt her approach. There was no question who had stepped forth to defend Ailon from her onslaught, perhaps the only person beyond Darth Raze that exceeded her in strength. An opponent that would take everything the Dark Lord possessed to face off against. There were no words spoken between either of them - and there didn’t need to be. Their paths would always lead them to confrontation at some point, and Tempest knew that both of them couldn’t walk away from Ailon at its conclusion.

Behind her, Sith and Thuleian soldiers halted their own advance - solidifying their lines behind the Dark Lord. They were both titans within the Force, exceedingly powerful in their own right. It was clear that neither side intended to intervene in whatever was about to occur, granting the pair the breadth necessary - almost certainly for their own safety.

Her fingers curled around the hilt of her Lightsaber - feeling the corrupted crystal of Indy Sati pulse within. Stepping forth, Tempest continued her steady approach towards the Temple and Grandmaster, her pace not yet quickening beyond a brisk walk. The Force billowed and gathered at her command, crackling through the air around her.

With a thrust of her right hand, Tempest gathered the debris that littered the ground before her. Pieces of broken glass and stone were pulled from their resting place and hurled towards the Grandmaster of the Jedi - accelerated to the speed of bullets as they traveled. The projectiles were propelled just far enough to strike the space where Alexandria was standing, channeling the Force only long enough to send them on their way. Her own lightsaber was tilted upwards at a forty-five degree angle, ever-so-slightly crossed diagonally across her body. She continued her march towards the Grandmaster, intent upon slowly closing the distance between them.

@Valen Pelora

 

[Alexandria Voran]

Admiration had no place on the battlefield. The Dark Lord came into view and stopped to stare. Alex chose that moment to strike. Her left hand twitched. The grass beneath Tempest would instantly ignite, the flames suddenly becoming a column of roaring fire. Her only goal to engulf the Dark Lord. The cylinder of flame extended 10 meters into the air and five meters in diameter. If, the Sith managed to still fire her debris bullets, Alex would wave them away with the fingers gripping her saber. Sending them pounding harmlessly into the ground. War was not the holos. There were no dramatic pauses. There would be no honorable duel to decide the fate of Alion. No futures decided in the circle. You lived or you died. No matter who you were.

Alex's voiced carried across the battle field as the flame crackled. "How far the Sith have fallen...I fought Andruil in the mountains...Felt the Raze 'sunending hunger." She shook her head. "And now this is who they crown their Dark Lord. How entirely disappointing." Her saber was unlit at her side. The Force ever flowing through her soul. Ready for whatever might come next.

@Altaris

 

[Darth Tempest]

Despite what might’ve been assumed, Tempest was hardly stunned into inaction by the appearance of the Jedi Grandmaster. Her brief pause didn’t prevent the Dark Lord of the Sith from paying close attention to her surroundings - feeling as the Force surged through Alex - and moving to defend herself accordingly from the inferno.

The Force coalesced and gathered around Tempest as a protective bubble - extending mere inches from the surface of her body. It was just enough to protect herself from being consumed by the flames, leaving the edges of her cloak alone to be scorched and left smoldering. Alex would see the Dark Lord vanish into the fire for but a moment, only to emerge unscathed. Her ballistikinesis sailed forward regardless -albeit with less power behind it. Tempest made no immediate follow-up to their deflection.

“How spectacularly you have failed to protect your own, at each and every turn.” She said coldly - mechanized voice echoing across the battlefield. Alex had fought Renfry all those years ago, and lost a Jedi to the Dark Side because of it. She’d felt the hunger of Raze, and failed to even be present for the destruction of Ithor. Tempest herself had burned the New Alderaan Temple to the ground.

“Today will be no different.”

She made no attempt to attack Alexandria again - continuing to close the distance between herself and the Grandmaster, allowing the woman to strike first. The Force gathered around her powerfully, bracing herself for whatever assault the Jedi unleashed next. She never quite forgot about the lingering flames that burned behind her, prepared in the event Alex attempted to weaponize them again.

 

[Alexandria Voran]

The flames did not dissipate. Creating the inferno was the greatest challenge. Once the fire was stoked, controlling the roaring pillar was a simple task. One she had done hundreds of times.

Alex could feel Tempest working the Force and once again struck quickly. Her flick of the wrist to send the debris harmlessly into the ground quickly shifted to reach out towards the Dark Lord. Iron clamps tightening all across the Sith’s body. Pressure of an impossible agree applied at every angel.

Tempest would find walking from the flames to be a near impossible task as she chose to protect her body. Even if she managed a step, the flames would follow. The heat of the fire growing ever hotter as it pressed towards the Dark Lord. Assaulting whatever armor was created. The witty words of Tempest drowned out in the roaring flames.

@Altaris

 

[Darth Tempest]

Tempest wasn’t the least bit surprised by the continued Pyrokinesis - having deliberately kept her attention in the inferno in preparation. In a flash, the crimson saberhilt returns to Tempest’s belt, it’s blade of plasma hissing out of life. Her energies in the Force continuously poured into the Force barrier, solidifying her armor against the razing blaze. Preventing it from enveloping her lithe frame.

She made it forward a few steps before the feeling impossible weight that bore down against her - slowing her gait forward. Even if the Grandmaster had no intention of engaging Tempest, overwhelming the Dark Lord of the Sith wasn't an easy feat. While maintaining the barrier around herself, Tempest made no attempt to fight against the stasis - instead allowing Alexandria to keep her body bound in place. She didn’t need to move to engage the Grandmaster.

With her free hand, Tempest unleashed a burst of Force Lightning - streaks of violet and blue electricity surging forward at blinding speed, aiming to strike center mass. It was not a prolonged channel, but the bolt would be more than enough to send the Grandmaster sailing backwards if it made contact.

Using Alexandria’s own attack against her, the Lightning would be effectively hidden to the very edge of the five meter column of fire, giving the Grandmaster - saber still unlit and positioned at her side - even less time to mount a defense.

Even if the Lightning failed to cause damage, it would force the Grandmaster to defend herself according - interrupting at least one, if not both, of her channeled Force attacks.

@Valen Pelora

 

[Alexandria Voran]

The Grandmaster remained unmoved. She stood firmly before the Temple doors. Her roots deep into the ground. She had seen Tempests like before, and she would see their like again. Through it all, Alex remained.

She calmly watched the saber ignite. Her senses spread wide in the Force. The familiar dark energy gathering in the Sith Lord. Alex released the flames but continuing to hold Tempest. The Sith making no effort to resist.

The fire was real. It would not burn out instantly, but as Tempest released her blast Alex was working the Force quickly again. A barrier springing up rapidly as the lightning exited the flames. A barrier with the single aim to reflect the dark energy back at the Dark Lord.

Tempest was locked in place, her own blast a quickly fired mark. They would have little time to avoid their own conjured elements. The very nature of the Dark side turned back against them.

@Altaris

 

[Darth Tempest]

Almost immediately, Tempest felt the flames begin to dissipate directly around her lithe frame, failing to catch her skin or armor by virtue of the barrier she maintained. Rogue blazes continued to blaze and catch the infrastructure or Ailon, but the intensity of the inferno - and its targeted nature against the Dark Lord - had been field entirely by the manipulation of the Grand Master.

Remaining fixed into place, Tempest poured her energies into her own defenses - fully expecting Alexandria to utilize another elemental attack. While the redirection of her own lightning was unexpected, the Dark Lord needed to do very little to protect herself.

That same protective barrier was directed forward - projecting in front of the Dark Lord to meet the electrical attack. It was not necessary to spend time conjuring an entirely new defense, at the cost of draining her own reserves by projecting the continuous protection.

Sparks scintillated as they crawled across the surface of the barrier, crackling violently until they faded into nothing. Only then did Tempest finally lower her defenses - capitalizing on the abandoned fire, and allowing the Dark Lord to follow up with a counterattack of her own. Even if the fire didn’t dissipate immediately, the armor that Tempest wore was more than sufficient to weather the residue heat.

The continued stasis kept Tempest from stepping forward, but it did little to prevent her utilization of the Force. Reaching out, Tempest attempted to close her grip around Alexandria’s throat - iron bands of energy tightening with malicious intent. The flick of the Dark Lord’s fingers aimed to yank the Grandmaster’s neck backwards and towards the ground - her hold solidifying with every passing second.

Any breach in Alexandria’s focus was capitalized upon - as the Dark Lord attempted to move forward if the stasis was ever abandoned. She didn’t forget the fire that continued to burn nearby, but gave Alexandria little breathing room to manipulate them once again.

 

[Alexandria Voran]

The Dark Lord finally released the barrier around her person, to block her own lightning turned against her. The embers of the still burned beneath her feet, at her back, as she managed to slowly more forward. When the barrier dropped from around Tempest, pushed out to defend the lightning. A stream of fire broke from the ground. Aimed directly at the back of the Dark Lord.

Her armor was strong, but the heat was intense. White hot. The carefully constructed barrier of the Force gone. That gout of flame was striking the Dark Lord in an instant. Her aim to send the Sith stumbling forward, a hole burned in her back while her Focus on Alex. Trying to claw at her throat.

But it was the classic of all classics. A move the Grandmaster had fought off before. The Force flooded through her body. Strengthen the muscles in her head and neck. A thin barrier of the Force springing from her own skin. Not unlike what Tempest and employed. A barrier between the clamps and her neck. She still felt the strain but persisted. The statis on the Dark Lord fading. Alex hand reaching towards the cloud as thunder cracked.

@Altaris

 

[Darth Tempest]

At once, Tempest felt the hold around her body weaken, stasis that faded against the pressure she applied to the Grandmaster. It was like the weight of an entire city being lifted from her shoulders, allowing her limbs to move freely for the first time since their duel began. It was a freedom that the Dark Lord capitalized upon at once, channeling the Force and allowing its energies to hollow throughout her entire body. Enhancing the speed of each step she took, rapidly closing the distance between herself and Alex.

The Dark Lord moved like a blur of vision - dashing forth to finally move within striking distance. But not quite fast enough to avoid the gout of fire that reared back towards her, striking Tempest in the back as she dashed towards the Grandmaster. Though she didn’t stumble forward as intended, the damage was no less severe

Red, hot agony surged throughout her entire body, radiating out from the center of her back. The flames licked at her bare skin, scorching and blistering everything they touched. It was enough to sear right through the armorweave and fabric that she wore, leaving her skin exposed and the edges of her armor smoldering like embers.

It was pain that forced Tempest to abandon the Force Choke - disrupting her concentration. A prolonged battle of the Force wasn’t in the Dark Lord’s favor, and she instead used the opportunity to summon the second saberhilt from her belt, the crimson blade of plasma igniting at once.

She continued her enhanced dash forward - keeping both sabers positioned defensively across her body. The Dark Lord didn’t miss the hand that stretched to the sky nor the crack of thunder that followed, prepared to defend against whatever bolt of lightning the Grandmaster yanked down upon her.

As she moved into melee range, Tempest carved her left-handed saber in a diagonal arch from right to left - attempting to carve a molten channel across the Grandmaster’s body. She deliberately moved to close the distance between them, forcing Alexandria to weigh the risk of any additional environmental attacks going forward.

 

[Alexandria Voran]

The Force beat steadily in her chest. Each breath in time with the heartbeat of the universe. She saw not only with her eyes but with the very Light itself. An imagine of the world few could comprehend. Alex saw Tempest begin to dash forward, the vibrations of her footfalls thumping into the earth. They had both come to the same conclusion. Alex’s command of the Force weighed in her favor. The longer Tempest was kept at bay, the greater the scales tipped for the Grandmaster.

Her free hand moved s Tempest began her dash. She was rooted in the planet. Had been since Tempest stepped foot on Anion. Alex reached into the earth and pulled. A chasm cracking in the earth between them. Opening directly beneath the Dark Lord’s feet as she ran. Aiming to send her down in the black abyss. At the same time Alex broke the ground, the sky reached down. White lightning aimed at the top of the Sith’s skull. A great bolt from above. Thunder splitting the air. Hairs on her arms standing tall.

If Tempest cleared the gap, and somehow avoided the lightning, Alex would employ a strategy as old as time. Her white blade snapping to life as Force enhanced legs pushed her swiftly backward, avoiding the the slash.

@Altaris

 

[Darth Tempest]

Tempest didn’t slow her gait, moving in close the distance between herself and the Grandmaster. She had previously made note of the Grandmaster’s outstretched hand and the crack of thunder, instinctively moving her lightsaber upwards and into defensive position. If only marginally, the Jedi eclipsed her own strength in the Force - and prolonging any ranged engagement would only turn the tides against the Dark Lord of the Sith.

No more was that fact on display as Alexandria manipulated the earth and sky around her - tearing tissues into the very earth beneath Tempest’s feet. It was an impressive display of the Force, and one that she quickly moved to defend herself against.

The Dark Lord watched as the ground beneath her feet began to crumble and break away - opening a chasm that stretched into darkness. The effort to tear apart the ground wasn’t instantaneous - pulling apart layers of duracrete, rock and metal. And it was precisely those elements that Tempest latched onto with the Force - suspending them within the air as she dashed without pausing. They provided a brief platform where her steps could land, just enough for the half-Annfyn to cross back onto solid ground.

Assuming the bolt of lightning still managed to strike down towards her skull, Tempest kept her offhand lightsaber positioned upwards - bracing against the bolt of power that streaked down to incinerate her. Vicious webs of electricity would terminate against the blade of crimson plasma, causing her forearm to bend just the faintest degree as her threatened to buckle. But resolute, she remained.

Even as Alexandria leaped backwards to avoid her slash, Tempest gave the Grandmaster little room to breathe. The Dark Lord darted to her own left - attempting to put herself on the Jedi’s right flank, her lightsaber stabbing forth. As she did so, however, Tempest coiled the Force subtly around the Jedi’s right knee, holding the delicate limb firmly into place. If the Grandmaster turned to face her opponent, she would risk pulling her own knee out of torque.

@Valen Pelora

 

[Alexandria Voran]

Alex smiled. Peace settling on her soul. Contentment found only in those with perfect balance. In that moment, found in the Grandmaster as Tempest flitted closer. The lightening crashing down on the Sith’s offhand saber. Alex pulling the bolt continuously from the sky. The saber raised to deflect the pouring elements, which allowed the Sith to skirt towards Alex’s left.

The Grandmaster struck again. With Tempests offhand saber raised high to defend against the lighting, her second saber sprang to life. Her hand moved in fluid motion, the lightning stoping only as the saber left her belt. She carried two…as always…but rarely fought with both. Her cyan saber being the first she ever crafted.

The saber ignited in a flash as it flew from her belt with shocking speed. Hurled towards its target. The distance between them mere feet. The tip of the blade aimed just above the breast of Tempests upraised arm. The Sith would have a fraction of moment to react.

At the same time, she felt the Force coiling around her knee. Her body still enhanced…she knew the pain would come but her strengthen body would endure. Pivoting slightly to face the trust of the Dark Lord. She kept her blade at a slight angle to shove the stab wide right. Assuming her blade had not pierced the Dark Lord’s chest Tempest would stand nearly face to face with the Grandmaster. The smile turned to a whistled when their blades locked. The wind from her lip a razors edge. A knife aimed at the mouth of Tempest and an end to all this.

@Altaris

 

[Darth Tempest]

Tempest kept her eyes fixated harshly upon the Grandmaster - predatory instinct glinting behind her golden eyes. Her right-handed lightsaber was kept pointed over the top of her head, absorbing the vicious streaks of lightning that poured from the sky. Even still, the Dark Lord didn’t fail to notice the saberhilt that was swiftly drawn with the Force from Alexandria’s belt, attempting to capitalize upon her exposed right side.

The Dark Lord had only a fraction of a moment to react - but that was all she needed. Two fingers lifted from her raised saberhilt, tendrils of the Force billowing forth to knock the thrown weapon slightly-off course. It would send the cyan blade teetering off to her own right, towards the very chasm that had been opened behind them. Though the redirection would spare Tempest from being impaled through the breast, the blade graze just close enough to pierce her armor - burning a shallow, molten channel across the side of her torso. Tempest couldn’t help but hiss in pain, though the superficial injury did little to slow her approach.

She quickly moved onto the Grandmaster’s flank and out of the original trajectory of the blade, cautious that it would be manipulated again.

The Dark Lord felt her left-handed lightsaber parried to her own left, the tip of the crimson blade crackling against white plasma. Rather than disengage, Tempest swiftly rotated her right wrist to flick downward at the same time as the parry - her secondary blade moving with blinding speed. Capitalizing on her occupied defenses, Tempest sliced her lightsaber at a diagonal angle - attempting to remove the Grandmaster’s left arm just below the elbow, potentially continuing further into Alexandria’s torso if otherwise unobstructed.

All the while, Tempest couldn’t have expected the aerokinesis that Alexandria employed. It caught her entirely off guard, and made the Dark Lord all the more grateful for the armorplast helmet and mask that she wore. Razor edge sheered and buffered off the armor that she wore, hairline fractures appearing across the surface of her mask. It was enough to protect her mouth and face initially, a window of time for the Force to protectively envelope her own face and upper torso, assuming the gust wasn’t summarily interrupted.

 

[Alexandria Voran]

The cyan saber skimmed across Tempest. Embers smoldering in the Dark Lord’s side. The very side that would swing the blade down towards Alex. Rather than expectedly flick her cyan saber back around she worked the Force in a different way.

Alex felt no anger towards the Sith. No hate. Truly, she felt only peace. Tempest was a stain on the galaxy, and it was her solemn duty to remove that stain. In a flash, those embers became a flame. A flame shoved into the very heart of the Dark Lord. Eating flesh and bone alike. There would be no more clever defenses, no more careful working of the Force. Darkness could only be cleansed by the Light. By whatever means necessary.

The wind whistling forth would never stop. Pushing hard against the Sith. If Tempest still managed to flick her off hand saber down, the Grandmaster would twist her left shoulders and hip. Her white blade turning off as she shoved backward with unnatural speed. The wind still pushing. Likely not fast enough to avoid the scrap of the blade on her armor. Bruises spreading across her chest. White saber immediate reigniting as she called the cyan blade home.

@Altaris

 

[Darth Tempest]

There was no mistaking the agony that lanced through the Dark Lord of the Sith - groans of pain erupting from the mechanized filter of her mask. Feeling as fire erupted from the slice across her ribs. It was Pyrokinesis in its most advanced form, napalm that worked through her armor and began to eat its way through her flesh. It was enough to cook through the upper levels of her skin, the scent of burning flesh filling the air, before it found icecold resistance to smother the blaze.

She couldn’t prevent the initial damage that was caught - and most certainly couldn’t heal it. But she could prevent it from worsening with the passing moments.

Even as Alexandria pivoted and stepped backwards, Tempest continued with the swing of her right arm - flicking her crimson blade downward at a diagonal angle. Rather than to carve into the Grandmaster’s armor, the Dark Lord curved her blade in an attempt to cut through Alexandria’s extended, right wrist - still positioned outward from her previous parry. The fact that the Grandmaster had disabled her weapon left the completely Jedi open to attack, attempting to cut clean before space was placed between them.

Regardless of whether her attack landed, Tempest gave the Grandmaster little room to breath. Her right handed lightsaber unigniting and returning to her belt - her body pivoting to the left to face the incoming, Cyan saber. But she didn’t close the distance.

Instead, Tempest pointed her right hand towards the ground - allowing the Force to pour through her. The Darkness swelled and crackled through the air at her command, manifesting as streams of electricity that danced between her fingers, the sole warning before the Dark Lord tightly clenched her fist.

Without any additional warning, Lightning sprang upwards and tore through the urban surface of Ailon, crackling mere inches off the ground in streams of violet and blue. The flood of electricity formed a lake that extended five meters out from where Tempest was standing, protecting only the ground where she was directly standing.

It was an ability that was known only by two people in the Galaxy - and one that Tempest had come to master nearly a decade. One that Alexandria almost certainly wouldn’t predict.

If successful, tendrils of electricity would snake up the legs of Alexandria - sending painful jolts and shocks through her entire body. It would not be enough to kill - but most certainly debilitating. Aiming to leave her open as the second, deadly bolt of Lightning poured from the Dark Lord’s fingertips and streaked towards her chest.

 

[Alexandria Voran]

The smell of charred flesh struck her nostrils. Alex’s control of the wind had never wavered. The Dark Lord doing nothing to combat the gale that hammered at her body. The Grandmaster would not stop the assault, her power strong enough to knock the Dark Lord from her feet. Tare flesh from bone. Again, having none nothing to guard against it, there was little hope.

Alex barely managed to snap her hand back before the saber cleaved it in two. Still, she could feel the heat from the saber. Her skin under the armor bubbling. Pain lacing up her shoulder. The distance between them minimal as Tempest carried on her theatrics. Alex could not know what the Dark Lord would do but she knew something was happening. Her body braced as the lightning spooled out.

A fraction later it flowed through her. Alex in control of every cell. This particular brand of the Darkness was unknown to her, but she’d done much the same with Andruil, and she was stronger now than she had been then. Her body became a conduit, the lightning laced up her legs and out her outstretched hands. Slowly backing out of the pool. Flashing back at the blast Tempest fired so that it would never reach her. Her own burning flesh mingled with the scent of the Darklord. That wind still cutting between them.

@Altaris

 

[Darth Tempest]

Tempest could feel the torrent of wind that continued to buffer against her body - howling against her sensitive earring, making any step forward all the more difficult to make.

Even still, the Dark Lord had previously shielded her torso against the Aerokinesiflames, and only continued to hold that resistance. Her diverted attention was enough to force the Dark Lord to skid backwards several inches, but so too would Alexandria’s multiple Force attacks and split focus reduce her own effectiveness.

Her armor would protect her flesh and bone from nothing but the residual wind, heels digging deep into the earth of Ailon.

Tempest poured her focus into the lightning that poured from her fingertips - igniting the cityscape of Ailon with ribbons of violet and blue, consuming the ground and streaking violently towards the Grandmaster. It was only then that she dropped the protective barrier that surrounded her.

It would take unyielding concentration to absorb the flood that spread across the ground, likewise doubt nothing to block the bolt of electricity that snaked forth to slam into the Jedi’s center mass at the very same time.

Electricity would surge violently through every fiber of the Grandmaster’s body, burning through flesh and armor alike. Even if Alexandria managed to block the bolt to her chest, she would have quite a distance to cross before making it safely out of the pool of lightning, extending five meters out from where Tempest was standing.

Tutaminis required complete concentration to maintain, even moreso as Alexandria attempted to reflect the lightning. It would be next to impossible to maintain the gale that cut between them without the energy erupting in the Grandmaster’s fingertips.

 

[Alexandria Voran]

Her face was bared in grim determination. The lightning from the ground conducted through her body and out her hands. A perfect translation did not exist and so she felt the cells in her body vibrating in exquisite pain. The Grandmaster using Tempests own power against her. She drew continuously from the pool surrounding them so that her own return hammered into the flickering mass of electricity headed for her chest. The wind stopped as her concentration narrowed. Elements coliding in epic fashion. A great boom and shockwave shuddering across Alion as lightning met lightning. Alex's fair whipping about her face. Her feet marching ever backwards to carry her from the pool.

"Enough." Alex's voice was hoarse. Dry. It sounded alien in her ears. Her white blade sprang to life again. "There is but one way to finish this." The Force beat steadily in her chest. Her breath pounding in her ears.

@Altaris