The Gauntlet

[Lyanna Drast]

Medriaas.

Lyanna had never been here before the incident that had occurred here had left the Galaxy in it's current state. But it seemed appropriate that this should happen here. She wasn't exactly well versed in battle but she was far from being unprepared or untrained. She had been trained from a young age and she would not be the pushover that she was sure the old man was expecting.

Doubtlessly he was expecting her to be something of a pushover - the old tended to be arrogant when it came to their experience. They tended to believe that the young had no chance against such an advantage.

It was irrelevant now however.

Both of the Sith had brought fleets to the planet itself simply because it was prudent for them to do so. What came next was something that neither of them could know. They could suspect and they could prepare but there was no knowing.

Lyanna had come down on a shuttle alone and she knew that he would do the same - that he was honour bound to do the same. Between their two shuttles was the arena. The place where they would do battle.

The place that was nothing more than a stretch of barren land.

It had once been lush grassland but now it was nothing but a stretch of black dirt. It wasn't wet so it wasn't mud yet either - it was just hard dirt beneath their feet. There weren't even any large rocks around either.

No cover.

Just the forty meters between their two shuttles, where the two of them had stepped out. Lyanna rolled her neck slightly as she stood there, waiting for her opponent to disembark from his own shuttle. When he did she smiled as she drew her crossguard lightsaber in her right hand, igniting it as she held it at the ready in front of her, guarding her middle to lower torso.

"I thought you'd be taller."

Her left hand was ready at her hip, hidden by her robes, ready to pick one of her other weapons as needed (which were also hidden from view by the robes).

"So - are you here to bend the knee?" She asked brightly, "Or are you here to finally prove that you're not a coward... just incredibly incompetent?"

She was being very disrespectful... because she had no respect for the man who stood across from her and she wanted him to know it.

@Narsi

 

[Darth Vrael]

Vrael stepped from his shuttle slowly, looking across to where his opponent waited. She stood alone, just like him, and he could see no obvious sign of treachery from where he stood. Huh, perhaps the girl actually meant to go through this the proper way after all. So he started forward to meet her, a lightsaber already activated in one hand, one of the few spots of color amongst the desolate landscape. It was almost poetic, the place this whole mess had started...was where it would end.

He gave the younger Sith a long look when they met in the middle, searching for any obvious weaknesses. Perhaps contrary to hers and others suspicions, he wasn't taking her lightly in the slightest. True, she was young, and he did consider his victory was all but certain. But only if HE brought such an ending about, she was hardly going to lay down and die. And she wouldn't be where she was if she was completely lacking in ability. As such he had brought his full armament to this bout, encased in his armor for battle and his weaponry. Over it all he had his thin back cloak, a merely cosmetic measure that paid tribute to his allegiance. It also had the side effect of helping to conceal the weapons at his waist though.

When she activated a lightsaber, one of those fancy crossguard varieties and took a stance, he did the same. Holding, the weapon almost vertically in front of him with one hand as he anticipated an attack, feeling the force flow through him. It didn't come, more words filling the space between them. Vrael just sighed, though he didn't drop his guard. This girl, so much unnecessary drama and poise in everything she did. The challenge too had been as such, and it was honestly getting annoying. What did she expect, a conversation? Some childish trading of insults and banter like they were on some child's playground? He glared at her underneath his helmet, giving her three simple words in return. "Enough. Talking. Fight."

With that he started edging his way forward, taking small patient steps that kept his right foot slightly ahead in a staggered stance. His lightsaber still held before him, tip wavering slightly with his movements as he waited for the other Sith to make a move. It had begun.

 

[Lyanna Drast]

He took the words right out of her mouth.

Drawing her blaster pistol with her left hand, she fired twice, once at his right thigh/upper leg and once at his right shin. The idea was to force him to commit his right blade to defending against the blaster bolts and to stop advancing to do so. As the blaster bolts were making their way across the distance to their target, Lyanna would use the Force to seize control of Vrael's ignited lightsaber and use that control to tilt the bottom of the vertical lightsaber upwards, bringing the blade back down towards his head and torso, which would cut into him like a hot knife through butter if it connected.

Vrael would have to see about blocking two blaster bolts to his right lower body while also attempting to regain control of his lightsaber with the Force to prevent his best line of defence against the blaster bolts being used to cut him open.

But she was realistic so she was prepared for this not to be the case, her crossguard lightsaber still covering her middle in a guard position, her blaster pistol still ready to spew plasma and her senses alert for any counter attacks.

@Narsi

 

[Darth Vrael]

Well, at least she had the sense to take good advice, because she did indeed start fighting. To bad that was the last good thing he could ever possibly say about her, as he saw a BLASTER of all things arriving into sight. A blaster, a blatant disregard for the rules and traditions of the Kaggath. And a challenge she had made no less. It was just the kind of thing he had been expecting to see here today. At least he'd been expecting it though, it made reacting easier. He reached out with the force just as he darted to his left and she fired. His lack of heavy armor on his lower body helping him greatly in this sudden movement.

As he moved, his lightsaber seemed to wiggle in his hand, at the same time that Vrael attempted to ram an invisible pointy tendril into the girls right eye socket. It was simple to just tighten his grip and stiffen his wrist, pressing his right arm against his chest plate to grant additional leverage. So while his own saber did suddenly tilt back towards him, it was easy to stop it before it preformed the whole movement necessary to cut him. His other hand went to the other lightsaber at his waist, pulling it forth in preparation for more shots. The girl however, might not find it so easy to block his telekinetic attack, especially as her own force abilities were occupied elsewhere at that moment. As he finished his sudden movement, two blaster bolts would ping into the dirt where he'd been standing. It had been a close miss, but he'd had over 30 meters with which to react after all.

Vrael would compose himself right away, ceasing his force attempt right after as it was not a prolonged attack. He would need his abilities again soon most likely, and he activated the other lightsaber in his hand. Perhaps she would try to rain more shots upon him before he closed the distance. She would find him ready and willing for more of them as he continued forward, on the lookout for more tricks. Hopefully both Empires were seeing this so far, especially the disgraceful start.

@Nefieslab

 

[Lyanna Drast]

Cursing mentally, Lyanna felt the darkness and the ill-intent of his attack just as her own was launched to minor effect on his lightsaber. She pulled back her own attack, ending it, but it did nothing to help her. Gritting her teeth in pain, she shut the eye as the Force jabbed it. It hurt, a short and stabbing pain, and she could already feel it swelling but it wasn't torn out or damaged beyond repair, the attack ending immediately by her opponent's own design and ready to be resisted by her own instinctive retracting of her efforts with the Force to protect herself.

They had both tested the waters so to speak and it seemed the old dog had claws.

Dropping her blaster pistol behind her, she instead drew her shoto lightsaber, igniting it as she did so to help cover her. She advanced onwards towards her opponent, careful to be ready to respond to any attacks but for now? They needed to eat up the distance between them to actually get to the battle part of the challenge. So far? So far it wasn't anything but testing each other and a blurry eye but the time for that was past - it was time to close the distance and end it in a clash of blades.

She could have said something but she didn't. She just advanced to meet him with her blades at the ready, her senses alert and the Force cloaked around her ready to defend against any further attacks. If she was not interrupted, and he continued to advance as well, then they would soon begin the dance of blades.

@Narsi

 

[Darth Vrael]

Hmm, he'd scored a hit with that last move. Vrael could feel the odd springiness in his mind still, that squishy feeling as his third arm had pushed in and bounced off the girls eyelid. How much of an effect had he had? It was hard to judge from this distance and the briefness of the strike but he had probably caused some impediment in her vision at least. Vrael's eyes however were just fine, and he didn't miss the other Sith dropping the blaster, his brow furrowing at the sight. The girl then pulled out and ignited another lightsaber, the shoto variant judging by the length of the glimmering beam.

Vrael paused his advance momentarily at the sight, especially when Lyanna started forward. Oh? So she wanted to fight for real now? Finally done with the blaster? He didn't believe it, not even for a second . No doubt she was just trying to lull him in for her next attempt. Not that it changed anything, there was only one path forward from here. Frowning deeply, Vrael started forward once more, matching her pace with his own. The force swirled about him, filling his limbs with a cold fire. He was building up his power within for the coming fight and inevitable betrayal. Perhaps a starfighter would come from the skies next, to rain bolts upon him before he could get close. That wasn't something he could truly ever be ready for, but he would try at least.

Stalking forward with his own blades at the ready, Vrael was struck by how silent she was. Had she finally realized this wasn't some stupid game? Good, now they could go about this at least semi-properly. The moments of travel passed, the distance made somewhat bearable with the two meeting in the middle. Soon, they were almost stepping into final blade range, and Vrael was feeling surprised at the peace of the last few moments. The female had a spine in her after all apparently. He feel into a stance as they covered the last few meters, right foot forward on his toes in a staggered pattern. His right lightsaber raised defensively in front of his upper body and his left blade pointed towards the ground. Finally, they were about to begin.

@Nefieslab

 

[Lyanna Drast]

The distance between the two of them disappeared inch by inch and soon it was clear that they were coming to the end, that the fate of the two of them was to be decided in a flurry of blades. When they were there, when they were within the last few meters, Lyanna turned ever so slightly, so that she could see his entire body with her vision easily.

She doubted he would let her edge around him but that was expected. She still held the Force tightly around her, readying it for quick and controlled use.

She held her shoto saber defensively in front of her body as she advanced within range of their sabers, stabbing her crossguard lightsaber at his midsection. The extra length of her crossguard blade meant she wasn't as close as she could have been and with his sabers positioned pointing up and down, it would take a full rotation of one of his blades to block the stab to the middle.

If he attempted to step back to avoid the jab she would use the Force to pull the man towards her, pulling him onto her blade or at least ensuring he was unable to step back from the attack. If he mustered any other defence or attack she would be ready to use the Force in a different manner.

@Narsi

 

[Darth Vrael]

They met in the middle and battle was joined, the other Sith coming forward to strike first. Her right blade, the longer crossguard variety darted up, aimed at his chest in a thrust. Luckily, Vrael's own right handed lightsaber was already well positioned to deal with such an attack. A simple lowering of the hand that held it brought the vertical blade into prime positioning, and he stepped forward to catch the thrust as it came in. Shoving the blade to his right, away from his body, he neatly diverted the deadly point from its intended target.

As he did so, he stepped closer and to his left, closing the distance to Lyanna's right side. Her undefended right side, as her shoto saber was currently guarding her left. And then it was his turn to thrust, as he lifted the blade in his left and attempted to bury the point in the girls side. The standard lightsaber length in his left ensured he didn't need to get overly close, Vrael carefully eyeing those glowing cross guard points. Actively blocking would be difficult, as the other Sith's right saber would need to retract before being able to skirt Vrael's blocking blade. The shoto saber too was on the wrong side, and its lack of length would limit its effectiveness.

Of course, the girls vision was somewhat handicapped as well. One of the reasons, he'd chosen to strike from her right side. The force still surged about him like it had during his walk over, the power congealing in his belly now as it ached for use. Vrael bided his time, gathering and keeping it within for when he needed it. He watched carefully as he jabbed, waiting for the inevitable response. He would pay extra attention to his right side, ready to move quickly if it proved necessary.

@Nefieslab

 

[Lyanna Drast]

Lyanna pulled back her main blade as soon as it was about to be met by his right-hand blade. It had been a simple jab, not a full-body lunge so she was able to pull it back in time to bat his left-hand lightsaber aside, her blade already being in the general area anyway as she pulled her blade back.



At the same time she pushed backwards and to her left, to pull back from the stab anyway so if her block missed she would still manage to avoid the stab. This would mean that she was turned so as to keep him within her field of vision as well as making some space between them again.



With her first attack countered, she would let him advance to combat her this time. The Force was still coiled around her like a spring, her blades were between the two of them and he was still within her sights.

@Narsi

Spoiler: OOC

Sorry if the format isn't any good - phone

 

[Darth Vrael]

His strike was batted aside at the last moment, the other Sith withdrawing his blade just in time. The girl stepped away as well, no doubt to ensure his thrust didn't strike home. It succeeded, Vrael's consideration of trying again getting shut down with that movement. She was letting him advance now, her blades in a ready position. Vrael too pulled back to reassess, blades rising up in front of him. No doubt she expected him to strike out once more, with some clever feints and such to defeat her. Too bad that wasn't in the books this time, he had the opening he needed. The time had come to release that burning sensation in his stomach.

Vrael lashed out with the force once more, ripping into her uninjured eye in a similar attack like before. This time however, he had an immense amount of prefocused power behind the attack. All the time he'd spent gathering the force about him, whilst on the walk over and during the opening blows, was being lent to the effort. The strength he'd been safeguarding came rushing out as he opened the gates, adding extra speed and impact to the strike, and decreasing the need for concentration. Before it had been a simple eye poke, this time it would be like driving a durasteel nail into the eye socket. There wasn't even a great distance separating them, and the invisible thrust would come near instantly. The other Sith could attempt to stop it, but Vrael's preparations beforehand would easily overpower such efforts.

He backpedaled carefully as he did so, taking him a couple more feet out of lightsaber range. It would take at least a moment or so to cover the distance and strike, by which Vrael's attack would have already seen results. His lightsabers remained ready in front of him regardless however. He wasn't going to give her any kind of opening, lest she pull another blaster from her belt.
@Nefieslab

 

[Lyanna Drast]

The attack came and she was disappointed.

Lyanna had been gathering the Force as well and holding it around her body to protect her. His attack on her eye was easy to feel coming, considering just how focused it was, but the effort to protect her eye with a shield against the intrusion was easy. She had been building the Force to herself for just as long as he had been doing so and he was not more powerful than her. His attack would smash into a shield, the nail pressing against a barrier it had not the strength or sharpness to break through.

Did he think her weaker than him?

While his attack was still being launched she attacked - pushing forwards as he was beginning to backpedal. He would be on one foot when she attacked, his footing ruined by the fact that he was seemingly counting on his attack instantly working against her prepared defences. She would sweep up from her bottom right with her main lightsaber, to catch and drag his left lightsaber upwards and to his right in a blade lock that would put both her right saber and his left between his own right saber. Or it would cut through his upper left leg should he decline to block it.

If the sweep was not successful, she would slash again at his upper body with her main saber to keep him on the back-foot, to keep him backpedalling.

If her sweep was successful, he would be in a precarious position with both of his sabers either raised or obstructed. She would throw her shoto lightsaber forwards physically, to impale the man in abdomen underneath the blade lock of her right blade and his left, with both of their blades forming a physical barrier for his right-hand saber.

They were both occupied with their Force attacks and defences so he would not be able to stop the physically thrown blade with the Force. As long as he would press the attack, she would sustain her defence.

She had deliberately attacked while he had one foot in the air to backpedal as well, limiting how he would move to evade the deadly object thrown towards the direct centre of her abdomen from such a short distance.

@Narsi

 

[Darth Vrael]

Vrael's attack didn't have the impact he'd hoped for, and he felt it crumple and distort against a powerful defensive response. Hmph, so the girl had more substance to her after all. She didn't just sit there serenely either, coming after him even as he went through his retreating motions. She took a swipe with her longer saber in her right hand, a sweeping attack coming up from below. Vrael halted his backwards motion accordingly to meet it with a planted footing as he responded with the blade in his left. Pivoting his wrist to point the blade down, Vrael swung fully in front of his own legs to bring the lightsaber to bear onto the left lower part of his body. He put his entire arm into it, meeting the oncoming sweep with his own swing. They met and Vrael immediately stiffened his arm, the momentum enabling him to match the enemy strike and hold a saberlock just by his thigh, though it knocked his hand back a few inches.

To bring the blade downwards as such, Vrael had to lean slightly onto his left side, pivoting slightly with his upper body. Doing so brought his right hand and saber to hover over the middle of his body slightly. And then the shoto lightsaber came into play. At first, Vrael didn't even realize it was a throw. They were still relatively close together, literally in lightsaber range, it just seemed like another thrust aimed at his midsection. Vrael reacted much like he had with the earlier jab, his right hand moving to intercept from its thankfully prime positioning. Pivoting at his elbow, Vrael swept the vertically held saber away and to his right, catching the shoto like another thrust. The impact would knock the thrown weapon off course and to his right.

Vrael's left hand was positioned on the outerside of his hip, it had to be to meet the oncoming sweep. His arm and saber weren't in the way at all with the lock occurring down by Vrael's left thigh and nowhere near his middle torso. The batted away shoto would be knocked off to his right harmlessly, flying through an area that had nothing to potentially block its passage. Then, it was Vrael's turn to strike again as he realized what had just occurred. Holding the saberlock steady and ready for a sudden disengage, Vrael stepped forward with his right foot to lower and jab once again with his right saber. Hopefully, he would sink the point into the girl's own upper body. He didn't stop with his force attack as he reacted, keeping the energy flowing naturally as his body moved physically. An attempt to retake the shoto with the force would end with Vrael's force attack sinking home.
@Nefieslab

 

[Lyanna Drast]

And there it was.

Her attack had failed to breach his defences and his had come across her own blade to end the battle. She saw his blade thrusting forwards for her heart but she didn't have the time to react. Instead, time seemed to slow down as she perceived her own death rapidly approaching.

Did she regret anything?

Perhaps.

But there wasn't really much time to regret anything and in the space of time it took for her opponent's blade to cross the distance she had decided that she probably did regret a lot. Probably would have done a lot differently. Lived a lot longer as well but, in the end, she had decided she needed to do this.

She had rolled the dice and the result was plain - a lightsaber impaled through her heart.

It took barely a second for Lyanna Drast to die from the mortal wound.

/Character Death
@Narsi

 

[Darth Vrael]

Vrael's face was a blank mask as he withdrew his blade, watching the girl crumple to the ground. She was dead, a certainty even if he wasn't capable of literally sensing the life leave her. One simply couldn't take a thrust into the upper body from a lightsaber like that and have any different result. Vrael glared down at the fresh corpse for a moment, shaking his head as he finally stepped forward. There were no jubilant celebrations here, no childish displays of happiness. It was over, he had won the Kaggath, simple as that.

It had been the inevitable conclusion, the only possible result between a pretender and the real deal. But Vrael had actually been partly enjoying himself for a moment there. The intensity, the power of the dark side flowing through his veins. For these past few minutes, he'd felt like a younger man almost. That thrill was gone now of course, Vrael regaining control of the anger and rage that had temporarily consumed him. He still had the dark side though, that would never leave him, not even when it came time to join the force.

He had gained a few other things to keep however, trophies, and an Empire supposedly. Vrael returned his own lightsabers to his waist, and extended a hand to summon the fallen Drast's weapons. The shoto went right to his belt, but Vrael held the crossguard in front of him for a second, testing out the grip. Eventually, he activated it and took a few swipes in front of him as he took a step forward. He loomed over the body, lightsaber humming viciously in his right hand. There was just one more thing he needed to take before returning to his shuttle...

/endthead
@Nefieslab