Skirmish of Empress Teta

[Xan]

A cone of fire descended upon Xanthus's form, immediately landing upon him and apparently settling upon his armor. The man himself merely watched his opponent go sailing past his head, showing a seemingly uncaring attitude towards the flames that would have been devouring his flesh had he been unarmored. Deactivating his lightsabers and placing them upon the magnetic lock on his back, Xanthus gathered the Force to himself and focused on the fires briefly, just long enough to draw the air away from them and snuff them out completely. By then the battle had been changed completely and irrevocably. Sith and Imperial reinforcements were arriving en masse behind him, the Jedi were gathering together for a retreat, and the battle was genuinely winding down. Sighing deeply, Xanthus combined Force speed with jump, executing a Force Dash that placed him in front of the Sith Juggernaut whom had been sent backwards. He was now foremost among the Sith with unabated view of the Jedi, though not for long it seemed. Within moments, his opponent blasted a large amount of dirt and debris straight outwards, clearing the landscape immediately in front of him and attempting to blind the Sith. The tactic would fail against Xanthus, considering that he was wearing a helm that had several settings of penetrating visions, however reflex demanded that a barrier be raised. "Acolyte, get behind me." Xanthus said with a deadly calm as he stared at the Jedi from within his helmet. 'Hmm...another day, Jedi.'

He thought to himself as he assumed a physical stance that would enable him to channel the Force more fluidly. Similarly to Feng, Xanthus would make himself rather tired through the use of this stance, which some referred to as Force Potency. In essence, it using it would enable one to strike with much more power than usual, at the cost of fatigue at the technique's conclusion. Bringing a large amount of energy into himself, Xan met Fang's debris wall with a powerful blast of pure Force energy. Like the Sith Master, Xanthus was also exceedingly skilled in Telekinesis, and he was most skilled in precise applications thereof. Instead of making an attack with a large radius and hoping to match Fang power for power, Xanthus instead opted to strike a point along this radius with a concentrated burst of amplified power. This would theoretically allow Xanthus to penetrate the debris wall at the point directly in front of him, keeping those immediately behind him safe from its effects while simultaneously striking his opponents with a wall of kinetic Force. "A parting gift." Xanthus said with a smile through gritted teeth.

 

[TAC]

The Sith Master skillfully avoided the tree- although it was somewhat hard to miss- and combined his lightsabers as he began his descent. Larik's own lightsaber flicked up into his hand as the tree trunk slammed into the ground several meters away. The man brought it up, ready to defend himself, but he saw Fang's lightsaber flick by and set the Sith's lightsaber off course. It was a foolish move, that left the Jedi Knight unarmed, but the man quickly recovered.

Fang also landed in front of Larik, no longer giving him a clear line of sight towards his opponent. The Master felt a wave of annoyance, but he brushed it to the side. Not having done anything, he bent to the side and sent a mild force push towards the Sith, which was then amplified by Fang's own. With Markus now behind him, Larik moved to the right of the Jedi Knight, so that they could cover one another.

The Jedi Knight then started throwing dirt, twigs, and leaves at the Sith Master. The ship arrived over head, rather quickly. It was impressive, in fact, how quickly it had come. "Get on!" the man yelled to Markus, who followed suit after a moment's hesitation. The Jedi Knight seemed to indicate he wanted Larik to go first, but the Jedi Master would not be leaving the Knight there.

As the annoying sting from the rocks, dirt, and other assortment distracted the three sith, Larik noticed the Force focus on the Sith assassin. The Jedi Master's hand extended, grabbing the now fatiguing Jedi Knight, and pulling him towards him. As the Jedi Knight was suddenly pulled away towards Larik, his attack weakened, a kinetic wall of Force shot past the two of them. "That's enough of that, Knight Fang, on the ship," the man said.

With everything ceasing, it was oddly quiet except for the ship flying above them and the lightsabers that were now lit. Larik slowly walked forward, around Fang, assuming he would follow the direct order. Thus, the man stood in front of the Sith, his lightsaber flicking up as they calmly regarded each other.

"You have beaten us," the Jedi Master said. He stared them down, tense, waiting for the slightest move as Fang jumped onto the ship. "For today." With that, a blinding light suddenly lit the air. At the same time, the sound of the ship filled their ears, overstimulating their senses to the point of incoherence. Larik let the attack subside, jumping up into the ship with the aid of the force, and it closed behind him.

Without a moment's hesitation the ship catapulted forward, flying off into the distance.

The Temple of Empress Teta had fallen.