The City of Destruction

[Black Noise]

The Sith
M Hammond
Mira Albion

The Jedi
Guhoo Armstrong
Tytos


Nar Shaddaa, a treacherous place of death and destruction, a villainous hive of scum and crime, a bloody house of cards built upon the rotting dead. This is the last place any self respecting, good natured being would ever want to find themselves. Mira Albion loved it here. This was where the fun happened, where a Jedi and a Sith could have a Corellian Ale together and no one would ever know. A place where a Sith Crusader and a Jedi Knight could fight to the death, then agree on a tie and become temporary friends. This was a world free of outside interference, where anything could happen without consequences being expected.

It was here that Mira chose her battlefield.

She contacted the Battlemaster of the Jedi Order, gave him an ultimatum really. He was a former apprentice of her's, to assume she had no way of contacting him was to assume grossly incorrectly. Her ultimatum? He came and fought her to the death, or she'd kill refugees and anyone sent against her until he came to fight her. Guhoo knew Mira, he knew she never joked about such wonderfully dark things.

Mira brought along a mysterious companion with her, a man whose madness almost rivaled Mira's own. Hammond, he was called. Looking out from where they stood, she awaited the arrival of their opponents.

Where did they stand? Twas a massive arena Mira had chosen. The middle of an abandoned shipping pad, rumored to be infected with the Rakghoul Plague. Mira was already vaccinated, and did not fear it, but the populace feared it enough to abandon nearly 100 square meters of space along with thousands of light plasteel and heavy durasteel crates, although empty ones.

But the arena was not the focus of the battle, the focus was on the enemy, and if they did not come soon, Mira would act out her threat.

 

[D.C.]

He stood beside her: the scary man with the raven-black hair and the glowing, blood-red eyes. He wore a grin on his mug; a terrible, terrible one that might strike murderous, pitch-black fear into the hearts of many; a grin that had driven so many poor souls insane.

The dark man had been occupied with some crazy troubles in the corners of known space and had just returned from a long and exciting voyage. He found it rather delightful that Mira contacted him upon his return, for he indeed loved to spend time with fellow psychos.

"You know," he spoke slowly, in that scary deep voice of his, "it may just be feckin hilarious if we'd just kill em hostages anyway, and when those Jedi duders show up they see em dead bodies. I personally think it would be absolutely kriffin funny if they were to get angry when they see us bathing in the victims' blood. O! Otherwise -- if you don't really fancy that -- we can also just dance till they show up! What say you, beautiful? Wanna dance with me?"

MH suddenly burst out in insane, demonic laughter; the kind of laughter that would make you wonder if there was anything human left in him at all. He slapped his thigh a few times and had the time of his life here, in this dark, dreadful arena of death and disaster. Some would say he was a clown, others would say he was a madman and yet others might be inclined to believe that he was just scared and tried to hide his fear by acting crazy, but the one and only truth was that this man was not a man anymore. Indeed, he had lost his humanity long ago and all that remained was a man completely consumed and corrupted by anger and darkness. However, that never meant that he was incapable of having fun.

O... Hammond always had fun.

Always.

And that made him unpredictable, which in turn made him extremely dangerous. Mira had chosen wisely.

 

[Gaja]

Mira Albion​

It had been a long time since he last saw the white haired woman, that once carried the rank of Master and was part of the Jedi Order. She was also the Master to Padawan Guhoo Armstrong. The man thought about her as the ship came closer and closer to landing, the bond that they shared, the love for combat. His body was clad in his custom armor while his helmet sat next to him on the leather couch. Leaning forward his elbows were on his knees as blue eyes moved to spot his fellow Jedi Master.

Tytos wasn't just a Jedi Master, he was a Blademaster and a true friend to the older of the Armstrong twins, one who didn't shy away to follow him in to battle even in these dark times. In truth this battle was years in the making and for the first time since he met the white haired woman Guhoo could honestly say that he was ready to face her. He knew exactly why she called upon him, he sensed it too. He was finally strong enough to stand against the big boys.

And as the muscular human thought about the battle ahead he also welcomed it in a way. Right now nothing else mattered, not the war, not his padawan, nothing but this moment and this upcoming clash. The man was well aware that there would be very little diplomacy in this one, hence why he was already in his battle gear, his multiple lightsabers attached to the custom combat belt, covered by his modified Jedi robe. He knocked on the hard surface of the armor twice, crafted by masters Kru Olivieris and Kiro Haas, it was quite possibly the best armor inside the Jedi Order at this time and today it might very well be tested.

No words were exchanged between the human and the noghri at this point as both of them were fully aware of where they were going. To battle. The red painted ship came to a stop, hovering a few feet above the ground as the loading ramp opened and the Councilor stood up. Carrying his helmet in his right hand he knew that Tytos would be far behind him.

Seconds later the man found himself jumping a few feet to reach the ground of the arena after which the ship once more flew away to give the force users some privacy. Looking ahead Guhoo Armstrong didn't smile, there was no need for it. He simply stood there and observed his master. "The years have been good to you. You look exactly the same as the last time we met." Except maybe that little piece of red she was wearing. And the dark side user that she had with her. "Who's your friend?"

 

[D.C.]

((OOC: I post now because Hammond would indeed reply to the battlemaster's query himself, "Who's your friend?"))

"Ah, 'ere they are: the Jedi! Enter, righteous warriors, bearers of light and justice; enter and taste the darkness!" MH called out to them upon their arrival, before the battlemaster asked his question -- a question MH had to answer himself.

The dark man gazed upon them and noticed they were armourclad and ready for combat. Of course they were; that was wise and logical at once. So was the dark man himself, for underneath his thick, rancor-leather trenchcoat that would provide him with some protection against powerful blows and strikes, he wore armour that was somewhat lightsaber resistant -- up to a point of course. After so many succesful hits the armour would indeed break, but the dark man reckoned it was enough to last him through the coming fight.

He brushed his long, raven-black hair out of his face in order to reveal it and he still wore that extreme darkly grin. Aye, he appeared to be insane and utterly mad, and mayhap he was exactly that; however, it could very well be an act. No one could ever tell for sure.

"The name is Marek Haley," he spoke, bowing low as though he was a servant addressing a lord, "pleased to meet you, ole chap! I'm so happy you and your buddy o'er there could make it here on time before the party starts! You look absolutely great and I looove your shiny armour -- o you bet I do! Now, I hope you die a slow and painful death at the hands of this here beautiful young woman, because I'm kinda thirsty and o, you know the taste o' blood? Tee-hee! Naw, don't mind me, sir! I'm just fecking around, you see. What say ye, shall we git somethin to drink after this fight, all four o' us? Might be fun! Woohoo!"

 

[Raif]

Tytos was not a man of many words. When Guhoo came to him and asked for his assistance, Tytos merely nodded his head and joined his comrade in arms. He didn't ask questions about where they were going, or why, or who it was who had so suddenly and mysteriously summoned the Battlemaster. While those facts might have been important for some people, for Tytos they were unnecessary distractions. Guhoo knew that Tytos was a warrior, plain and simple. The fact that the large human Jedi Master was asking for assistance told Tytos everything he needed to know.

Whatever was coming, it would involve a fight. There would be blood.

And so he quietly accompanied his friend to Nar Shadaa to face these darksiders, one of whom Guhoo apparently had a past with. Tytos was decked out in his typical combat gear, all loose-fitting to as to allow him the greatest freedom of movement. A lightsaber was clipped to his belt and his Wan-Shen carried lightly in his right hand, parallel to the ground with the point forward towards their enemies.

There were pleasantries exchanged, lots of boisterous yelling back and forth, but Tytos kept his mouth shut. He was far too busy taking in the more important details of their surroundings; the taste of the air, the smell of insanity wafting off of the male darksider like stink from a Hutt.

Tytos stood still, his body relaxed but every fiber of his being ready to react at the slightest provocation. He would follow Guhoo's lead.

 

[Black Noise]

Mira chuckled at Guhoo's comment on her appearance, responding once 'Marek Haley' finished speaking. Hammond, he couldn't help himself, clearly appearing through the Force as giddy from the excitement of fighting these Jedi. Mira didn't blame him, it was all she could do to not charge in immediately and engage them.
"Oh, I would not know about that my friend. Though I assume the years have aged well on you, making you into a fine young man, fine enough to kill or die from. You know me, I hate chatting and my entire body itches with the want to cut something up into little pieces, so lets not wait!"

Spreading a grin, Mira ignited both ends of her dual bladed saberstaff. A wicked weapon, the blades on each end were even longer than that of normal lightsaber blades, thus giving Mira enhanced reach and offensive capabilities. While the longer reach would be annoying and difficult to maneuver for most, Mira had long ago gotten used to it and fully integrated it into her style.

Motioning with her arm, Mira effortlessly lifted and heaved a 300 pound steel crate twice her size. As she sent it flying at Guhoo, she began walking casually forward and gathering the Force.

 

[Gaja]

Theme​

There were no signs of amusement or fear on Guhoo's face, the man was serious and ready to go. All insecurities he had before he entered the field of battle were now gone. His blue eyes showed that as they moved to settle on MH, his name mattered little to the Battle Master. He was so focused on Mira that the last name literally slipped from his mind, Marek was enough. Even if he wanted to hide it the man had a strong presence in the force, as did the Blademaster standing behind Guhoo. The noghri would be Marek' opponent today.

The first move in this chess match required no pieces, it was the look into the eyes of your opponent, the iron gaze of a warrior, the frozen stare of a man possessed, the piercing glare of a champion. To feel his years, a lifetime of hunger and hope, trifles and triumphs. Even if Marek and Mira searched his heart for fear, Guhoo would show them none. The Sith asked for a challenge and their wish came true. The man stood tall, his helmet in tow in his hand as he saw Mira ignite her lightsaber.

"It's on." He knew his former master and he knew that she liked to make an entrance by throwing things in dramatic fashion. She had done so back on Dxun the last time they met. Guhoo didn't even blink, he simply reacted and merely hopped to the side as a massive crate went flying past him. Landing perfectly the man's blue eyes one last time looked at the white haired woman as she approached him, step by step. It was then that he put his helmet on, concealing his face from view. The mandalorian inspired design would now be put to the test as Guhoo removed a lightsaber from his belt and ignited it through the force, a long shimmering purple blade hissed to life.

And without any words the Battle Master that was Guhoo Armstrong swung the blade around and got ready for what was to come, walking in a circular motion to Mira's left, and away from Marek and Tytos. He too didn't hide his presence in the force or the fact that he was gathering it for what was to come.

 

[D.C.]

Right before Mira moved, the dark man quickly yet gently patted her... um... ass... and told her, "Go get em, sweetie!" He even winked at her, wearing his devilish grin on his mug all the while. Then he turned toward the noghri who stood there; a dude with a rather ugly face, but then again, mayhap the noghri thought the same of MH. But, you know... looks don't count for much, right? They never, ever, really did.

He stepped toward the noghri, yet still kept a safe distance for now, and waved at him as if he was a boy greeting a buddy who he ran into coincidentally in the mall or something. "Hail, noghri-dude! Yer name's Tytos, innit? O, yea, of course it is! Wooahahaha! Tytos! That sounds like, um... Wait, no, seriously -- wait!" He raised up his hand as if gesturing for Tytos to stand still and be quiet; as though Hammond was the teacher and Tytos the pupil. "O, yea! That's it! It sounds like a mighty tribal warrior; a master at arms, perhaps! Are you a master at arms, Tytos? I know you hold such a rank within yer awesome and abso-feckin-lutely terrific Order, but I han't ever seen ya actually fight! O, but the stories they tell of you! AHAHAHAHA!" The dark man doubled over and laughed so loud, it was almost supernaturally loud. Could it be that his voice was being amplified by the power of the Force itself? That was a question that would remain unanswered forever.

"Okay," he then said after a while, rising to his full length again while wiping the tears from his blood-red eyes. He brought a fist up to his mouth and coughed. "Enough laughter. Well, actually not nearly enough, but enough for the time being. So, what say ye, fere? Let's get this party started, right? RIGHT!?"

Suddenly, as if out of nowhere, he dashed forward, straight at the noghri, like a flash. The one moment he stood there, laughing his ass of; the next he was upon the noghri. In the blink of an eye. A sword with a blade of light flickered to life then, and when he swung the weapon a hum could be heard. It was such an easy strike, nothing special about it and merely served as the opening blow of this wicked fight that had now truly commenced. A fight that would shake the earth upon which these warriors did battle, here in this desolate and forgotten arena where gladiators once fought in the name of their Hutt lords.

The slash was a horizontal one, from left to right, aimed for Tytos' right shoulder [as seen from Tytos' POV]. If the strike was succesful it would slice the noghri's shoulder and possibly cut into the man's chest, but if the strike was not succesful it was in fact still succesful. Hammond did not necessarily mean to cut open the noghri now already; this was merely the greeting. A proper greeting. A greeting from a monstrosity from the deepest, darkest depths of this galaxy, which are shrouded and utterly corrupted by the pure and ultimate strength and power of the Dark Side.

MH held his lightsaber in his right hand, and could easily withdraw his blade in order to either block a counter attack or to follow through with the strike, and even if that was not enough he still had a spare saber hidden somewhere on his person, but he probably wouldn't need it. Two sabers are for idiots.

Aye, it had begun.

Dun, dun, fecking dun...

 

[Black Noise]

Mira waited, ignoring Hammond's ass-grab, she'd cut off his hand later for it. She needed those hands for the moment, they were semi-valuable, unless they lost to this Tytos, in which case they were worthless. In her waiting, she walked, calmly, slowly towards Guhoo's right and her left, away from the other battle. They needed their space, naturally.

Crooking her head, Mira doubted for a moment on whether or not she was actually able to kill Guhoo. While she hoped to the bottom of her heart that he could kill her, she wondered on whether or not he could actually pull it off, and if she could kill him if it came about that she won. Shrugging away such doubts, Mira stopped a few meters from Guhoo and took up a more defensive stance in Ataru, waiting on Guhoo.
"A man takes the initiative in dating a girl, so it's only fair for you to go first."

All the while, the Dark Side swirled around Mira, gathering to her. Whatever she was going to do, it was going to be insane. Mira liked insane.

 

[Raif]

Inspiration

Speak softly and carry a big stick. A more apt phrase for Jedi Master Tytos did not exist.

As his opponent, this Marek character, began carrying on and running his mouth Tytos did little in terms of outward reacting. He heard the words that were being spoken, but he didn't really register them. Instead, it was the man's movements that were being closely monitored by the Noghri Jedi. As the darksider began moving forward, seemingly all laid-back bravado, Tytos began weaving his Wan-Shen in a slow, almost lazy looking figure-eight pattern while stepping lightly backwards on the balls of his feet.

Are you a master at arms, Tytos? I know you hold such a rank within yer awesome and abso-feckin-lutely terrific Order, but I han't ever seen ya actually fight!

That's because if you had, you wouldn't survive to tell the tale.

Those are the words that would have passed Tytos' lips, if he had allowed himself to feel anything personal about this fight. But he didn't. He was a tool, a blade, a weapon, and weapons did not allow their emotions to interfere with their duty. And so he maintained his quiet, responding to his attacker's taunts with nothing more than a blank reptilian stare.

And then Marek came at him in earnest, moving with what the darksider probably assumed was impressive speed. And it would have been impressive, to anyone who hadn't dedicated his entire life to honing his martial abilities. For Tytos this was a good warm-up.

The Noghri slid back as the dark man's horizontal slash came at him, bringing the butt-end of the Wan-Shen - which was slightly weighted, so as to provide a counter-balance to the blade - up, around, and down to connect with the hilt of the lightsaber. At best, it would simply knock the darksider's weapon down and off-track; at worst, it would connect with the man's hand and shatter most of the bones therein.

Tytos did not stop there, of course. Continuing the momentum of the block-cum-smash on his enemy's weapon hand, Tytos spun while spinning his Wan-Shen, bringing it spinning around himself blade-side out. The whole time he continued his retreat, daring his enemy to move aggressively forward into the defensive sphere he was establishing.

Tytos then set himself, ready for the next attack. His left arm and leg were straight forward, palm out to his enemy. His right leg was slightly bent, and his right hand grasped the end of his bladed-staff. The Wan-Shen itself lay parallel to Tytos' shoulders, blade forward and pointed slightly toward the ground. From here he could launch any number of offensive or defensive moves, all dependent on what his opponent did.

And still Tytos had yet to speak. He could feel the familiar mix of his own heightened senses mix with the Force flowing through his body, and as he waited there like a Nexu ready to pounce Tytos allowed himself a slight, feral grin as his scaly lip lifted to show off his needle-sharp fangs.

He spoke softly. And he carried one hell of a big stick.

 

[Gaja]

And as Guhoo's brother in arms went of to do battle the blond human couldn't afford to worry about him, nor did he at this moment. Such thoughts only existed before the battle, never during one. So while they were somewhat close to one another the Battle Master focused on Mira as if they were on a different planet. He trusted the force would alert him should Hammond attempt any trickery. Though he doubted that with Tytos around he'd get a chance. When truly serious the noghri was a monster, one that few people bellow the rank of master could even hope to fight and survive against. He was that skilled.

Instead the man through his helmet observed his opponent and for a fraction of a second he was surprised. "She's surprisingly tentative..." Was it because now she recognized Guhoo's abilities and growth? Or was she simply preparing to fire her lasers? Either way the older of the Armstrong twins made a step forward as subtle steam seemed to leave his body and armor. The artisan enhanced armor reflected Mira's blade as her former apprentice walked towards her. Almost within striking range.

The purple blade was in his left hand, and he appeared cautious, holding it more or less as a welcoming present for Mira should she attack. "I like your armor." His blue eyes showed focus and his words couldn't mask it. The two force auras clashed as focus met killing intent and the two force users were almost, almost within striking range. He hadn't missed the details of her red armor and as he circled towards her left Guhoo's two other blades were but a few inches away in case he needed them.

It would appear that in this game of chess the one who made the first move, would lose... Any little advantage could mean the difference between life and death, and so to disturb the balance of his former master Guhoo simply used force pull. But not to pull his former master through the air, no. It was a much more subtle move on his part, one where he simply pulled her front foot forward, as if he tripped her.

And at that moment he moved inside, now they were within striking range. And while their blades were of similar length, their hands were not. Guhoo was taller and by that logic had a longer reach, therefore effectively being able to touch Mira from a position from which she could not do so to him. His first attack however was a curious one. He aimed at her blade, as if he wished to lock with her for a battle inside, like the day she first took him on as a padawan. Regardless whether or not his force attack worked the man proceeded forward from Mira's left hand side, holding his blade in his left hand as it sought to strike Mira's midsection. Obviously the Battlemaster knew that she could, and most likely would block it.

So what exactly was his plan by doing that?

 

[Black Noise]

Mira's head swirled with doubts as Guhoo spoke, her mind and body causing time to slow around her as his last words left his mouth. Her beathing suddenly became quick and shallow, as if filled with fear. Unsurprisingly, however, it was not fear that caused Mira's sudden surge of adrenaline, it was excitement. A grin grew on her face as she turned those doubts into anger, and anger into rage. As Guhoo gave a slight pull forward, Mira instantly reacted with an opposite reaction of his pull from her foot with the same amount of force, negating the effect of his unbalancing attempt.

Guhoo moved inside and appeared to tentatively strike at her blade with one hand, Mira didn't care. He initiated the fight, he got close to the angry bull, and that's exactly what the Sith Juggernaut wanted. One end of her blade flashed up, empowered with Force weapon, and smashed into Guhoo's first blade with the Force of someone five times Guhoo's own size. As she smashed her blade, she shoved out with the Force, blasting a Force push at Guhoo's body with strength of a brick wall hurled at 90 kilometers an hour. With such force coming at him, any secondly planned attack would not be able to executed.

There was a reason Mira took the path she did, earned the title she had, a Juggernaut. Guhoo was about to see the reason.

 

[D.C.]

MH lowered his saber fast and shot backward, out of reach of that fancy weapon the noghri handled, thus saving his lightsaber and his hand. He let out a short, amused laugh and winked at the noghri, but without any intentions. It was, shall we say, just some sort of character trait of his. He watched the noghri move backward and away from him and he did not chase. No, not this time; not now there was not an opening.

He raised his flashy lightsaber in front of himself and looked past the flaming blade at his opponent. MH began to gather the power of the Force while standing there, in that defensive pose. He focused on the noghri, wondering what the man was up to, and despite the fact that MH was a crazy man, he also was a practitioner of the art of patience and could easily adapt.

 

[Raif]

The fact that his opponent had dodged the butt end of his Wan-Shen did not throw off Tytos' fluid motion; if anything, it allowed his to more seamlessly continue in his whirling, twisting motion. And so the battle was still a draw, with no bloodshed or injuries on any side.

Tytos intended to change that, and quickly.

He could feel the darksider gathering the Force into himself. The Noghri Jedi Master, slightly bent over in his combat stance, decided that he would not give his enemy any more time to prepare himself; there was a time for patience, but that time was not now.

This fellow Marek had thought he was fast. Well, Tytos was about to show him what it meant to truly be fast. The reptilian blademaster went from statuesque and still to a blur of motion in a fraction of a second.

First, a quick flick of his left hand saw the lightsaber clipped to his belt sprung forth, caught in a telekinetic grip. The activator of the saber was locked in the ON position and the blade hurtled toward the Sith, spinning like a scythe about a foot and a half off of the ground, ready to take Marek at the knees if he didn't react.

At the same time, the coiled spring that was Tytos exploded into motion. His right hand, holding the weighted end of his Wan-Shen, moved around and forward as he launched himself in a sprint toward his opponent. This acrobatic flourish would bring the bladed staff around and up, perpindicular to the ground, before Tytos would flip it up, end over end, spinning like a saw blade into the air over Marek.

Tytos would then launch himself into the air after his weapon. He would catch the Wan-Shen mid-spin, his leap and the motion of the spear combining to add to his potential energy. If the blademaster had timed it right - and let's be honest, he rarely timed things wrong - he would grasp hold of his weapon in mid air just before the spinning lightsaber blade, still grasped in a telekinetic hold, would near his enemy's knees.

Tytos would then come hurtling to the ground, his Wan-Shen held in an overhead hammer-grip, ready to bring the weapon down and cleave his enemy in half from head to toe. Even if the Sith were able to dodge the attack, Tytos had been gathering the Force into himself and would release it from the blade of his Wan-Shen in a wave of kinetic energy whenever his weapon struck its target.

 

[D.C.]

There was a big smile on the dark man's face when he saw Tytos practically flying through the air. Of course, relatively speaking, the speed at which these warriors moved and flew and fought and whatnot was not really that tremendous or anything. It was just, you know, normal. These guys were used to it and to them it was not that special anymore at all, but of course their speed was still relevant. If you did not speed up and keep up, chances were that you'd get a limb cut off or something. In MH's case, he risked getting both his legs cut off. That was not a good idea, according to the dark man, and so he decided to prevent that from happening.

He lunged out his left free hand when the noghri was in the air and about to slash him with his fancy stick and unleashed the power he had just gathered. It was an enormous blast of Force power and aimed not just at the noghri's chest, but at his entire body. Since the noghri was so close to MH, it would most likely be damn hard to protect himself against this mighty attack and it would also be nigh impossible to dodge because the noghri was in mid-air and coming straight at MH. If everything went according to plan, the noghri would be blasted away, backward through the tainted Nar Shaddaa air, and hopefully (if the odds were in MH's favour) slam into one of the arena walls just for MH's own pleasure.

At the same time, while unleashing the blast from his free left hand, he slashed with his lightsaber which he held in his right hand. He slashed at the flying lightsaber hilt with which Tytos attempted to cut off MH's limbs; MH was fast like a demon. He cut the hilt into two right before it could cut through his flesh, and the energy blade immediately disappeared. The two halves of the shattered weapon fell onto the ground, now useless bits of junk. The Jedi's lightsaber was now destroyed.

The dark man then looked up to see how Tytos was doing. He began to gather the power of the Force once more, because he felt like he needed it for this fight, for it was not over yet. No, it was far from over. He raised his lightsaber and prepared to meet the fierce noghri in combat once more.

 

[Gaja]

The two blades collided, and as if he knew it, he lost the contest of strength as he looked on. Guhoo was not a terribly offensive force user, in the sense that he didn't know a demon list of force powers, but the ones he knew he was damn good at. And he trusted his instincts, who yet again didn't betray him.

A big cloud of dust was raised as Mira's attack hit and pushed the blond back.

It was a brutal strike, there was no denying it. He simply endured as he felt the power of getting pushed back. As the smoke and dust cleared the man once again appeared, standing though his armor was no longer as shiny as it was before. His face couldn't be seen due to his mask and for a time he was motionless. Thanks to a little hunch in the back of his mind the blond threw out a barrier in defense, though whether it was luck or the force one couldn't really know. All that one could tell was that Guhoo instinctively threw up a barrier, or rather a part of it, which as a result shielded him from one part of the blast. Which wasn't to say that his body felt like it had been hit by a bat right now.

But eventually the blond haired man stepped forward, his blade now deactivated.

Show no fear.​

Give her nothing. He admitted it, it was a good attack that landed. And he'd be a poor student if he didn't pay her back for it at some point, and as the subtle steam left his body and armor once more Guhoo walked back towards his former master. The red of her armor now rivaled her white hair as the most striking feature on her. He cracked his neck several times as his eyes always remained set on Mira.

"That's rude Mira. All this time and that's what I get?" His tone was surprisingly enough, relaxed? He didn't seem phased at all by Mira's strike. He received the horns of the bull and he appeared fine? "I hope you haven't become one of those people who rely only on force powers in a fight. I'd be very saddened..." if she did become one of those. But the man never finished his sentence as the force empowered him once more and he entered a heightened state, if you will. Force Valor...

Walking towards Mira the man was ready for round two.

 

[Black Noise]

Mira knew what this was. As Mira's hair fell loosely about her red armor and her sickly orange blades glowed brightly, she knew exactly what this was. Guhoo was goading her. As the Battlemaster, Guhoo was a master of the blade, it was even likely that he was better than Mira. Clearly, Mira knew better than to let Guhoo goad her into focusing on her blade instead of the Force. She knew she should hold back, blast Guhoo away, kill him with the Force. But Mira was a Juggernaut, and she prided herself on that.

Juggernauts rarely held themselves back.

Guhoo was calm, relaxed, not allowing his emotions to get in the way. Mira was proud of him for that. Focusing on her blade through the Force, Mira continued to apply Force Weapon to her sabers. If Guhoo engaged her, Mira believed she could overpower him. Leaning forward, she took advantage of her speed and charged Guhoo, flashing her left blade and aiming to smash it through Guhoo's midsection and cut him in two.

 

[Gaja]

Theme​

Who was better with a blade? Who cared. Watching the mix of white and red before him such trivial things mattered little as the two people approached each other. A vibrant aqua like color showed Guhoo's connection to the force as he kept walking, his eyes and mind focused on nothing else but the petite Echani. If they had time after this, he'd be sure to mention that he saw her daughter in a Council meeting on his way here. But right now there was little time for that.

His lips felt dry as he looked on, losing himself and yet again staying focused. Nothing else mattered right now. Not his own padawan, not his ship or the Order, nothing but here and now.

Underneath all that metal and cloth a man stood, watching the incoming bull as he prepared to bare his fangs. Deep inside he always knew it would come to this. It was as if Mira and he were destined to meet and fight like this. A Bull fighting against a Lion. The force swirled around him much stronger than it used to and through his helmet the man he found his target as stopped walking when Mira charged him. There was little in the explosiveness of his next move. Bending his knee his lightsaber was still deactivated as Mira charged him and he bent his knees slightly.

Roar of the Lion​

His reply to Mira's previous attack came in a violent form, Force Repulse. It hit out against anything and everything around the blond haired Jedi Master as his hands pushed the force away from him. It would hit Mira just as she came in hard and fast, and it would stop her advance.

With a subtle nudge his lightsaber once more came back to life and the violet blade in his right hand immediately hit Mira's blade hard, in an effort to push it away. But that wasn't the main attack, because as Guhoo swung the blade in his right hand, in his left the familiar hissing sound could be heard as a green blade struck out against the white haired Sith. A from left to right diagonal attack was the one that would do the most damage. And while he aimed to cut Mira's armor it wouldn't be a fatal attack, Guhoo would make sure of that one way or the other.

 

[Black Noise]

What an unexpected surprise, yet so terrifically wonderful. The Repulse slammed into Mira, who did not expect such an attack, and threw her back. Mira did not bother to create a barrier, and even if she had it would've been useless. Mira was small, and the Repulse threw her back farther than what would be expected. Guhoo's blades had no affect, as Mira was three full sabers lengths away from Guhoo by the time his sabers would have cut into her.

The Repulse halted Mira's advance and repelled her back, and if it weren't for her armor she would have sustained at least one broken bone. However, she did not let this setback halt her momentum for more than a split second. The second her feet touched the ground, she engaged Force Speed. Pure, unbridled rage fueled her speed, empowering her just as the Light side once did years ago. Her body was a blur, speeding around to Guhoo's right side in order to deliver a slash to his side, and clearing the distance in less than a second. Guhoo would remember this speed, the same movement speed she used so many years ago.

It would be interesting to see if he had improved his own speed enough to defend against the Juyo practicioner.

 

[Raif]

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

These were the thoughts going through Tytos' mind as the wave of Force energy slammed into him. How could the Noghri Jedi have been so stupid as to have left himself open for such an attack? His internal chastisement continued all the way toward the wall, of the arena, and he was only barely able to erect a Force barrier around himself in time to keep from being smashed to a bloody pulp.

That being said, he still struck the metal wall with quite a bit of force; in fact, his body left a dent in the metal wall akin to an impact crater on an asteroid marked moon.

As the Noghri slumped down out of the dent in the wall, he steadied himself with one hand on his Wan-Shen while the other wiped a trickle of blood from his mouth; he had bitten his tongue upon impacting the wall. He looked down at the blood, now on his hand, as he slowly limped toward his opponent. It appeared, as he shuffled forward bit by bit, as if he was using the Wan-Shen more as a walking aide than a weapon of war at this point.

Which is exactly what Tytos wanted his enemy to think.

As he got to within about 10 meters of his opponent, he suddenly flicked his wrist in his opponent's direction. The darksider would of course see this motion and likely brace himself for some sort of direct assault. Of course, that was not at all what was headed his way.

Instead, the two halves of Tytos' now-ruined lightsaber would burst into sudden motion with the speed of a projectile. Tytos may not have the raw telekinetic power of some of his peers, but his time with the Zeison Sha had taught him a level of fine control which came in very handy for one particular thing; fighting.

One half of his lightsaber would fly upwards, hopefully to smack into the back of Marek's head with enough Force to distract him and disrupt his control over the large amount of Force energy he was summoning. The other half would speed in a different direction, toward the female darksider that Guhoo was battling. Tytos hoped to strike her in the head as well, but anything that distracted her a bit and helped Guhoo's fight would be considered a win for this particular play.

The Noghri himself did not remain motionless while this was happening; whereas a split-second before he had seemed like an old, battered warrior, he quickly shed that disguise and resumed his lightning-quick motion. In this case he used a Force-assisted leap to cover the remaining distance between himself and his enemy; while doing to he twisted and spun the Wan-Shen in an elaborate display that many would have assumed was just for show.

In fact, what Tytos was doing was building up the momentum on his polearm, finishing in an upward-thrusting flourish that would slam into Marek's sternum or - depending on how solidly the lightsaber halve had connected with the back of his head - possibly his jaw, hopefully launching the dark man upwards into the air.

Tytos would then leap to meat his opponent mid-air, ready to slice his enemy in two with the bladed end of his weapon.