Pana held her sabre out infront of Grissk. "Let me handle him." She said before advancing a few steps forwards. "Let me prove to you that the force bends to my will. Let me prove that i don't need it to be strong.Will you accept my challenge?" Pana asked Del, pointing her sabre towards him.
"With honor." Del said, and readied himself for the fight. Pana was strong in the Force, that much was glaringly obvious. But Del was confident that he was the better swordsman, and in a duel of plasma and strength, he was sure that he would come out on top. He focused intently on the Twi'lek, waiting for her to make the first move.
"Grissk, be a dear and toss me your sabre." She said as she began twirling her own in her hand. Pana smirked, this wouldn't be very difficult. she was trained in all of the styles because of her past career life as a Jedi Artisan in training.
She began to look at him, seeing the defensive stance would mean he'd try to wear her out.
Grissk reluctantly threw her his saber, the absence of a weapon left him uncomfortable. He saw that a few of the Imperial Troopers were reaching for their vibroblades, so he used the Force and took them. He found two that suited him and leaned on them, ready to watch the show.
"Be careful, Karcot, Pana is the only one to have defeated me in combat."
He neglected to mention exactly how she had, however.
As Xyras caught up, he noticed the cloaked man speeding away, as a band of about fifteen soldiers, with about 9 Gamorreans amongst them, rounded on him an Hann and advanced menacingly.
Xyras would gladly fight them all, man to man, but he knew something was amiss here.
"We aren't the men you're looking for." He said authoritatively, empowering his voice with the Force. A few of the non-Gamorreans backed off, and realised they were about to go into combat with two Jedi. Four of the warband fled hastily.
As the dim-witted, violent Gamorreans, malicious grins on their hideous faces and vibro-axes raised high and ready, came forward, the two Twi-Lek's with blasters that remained with them opened fire.
Xyras instantly drew his lightsaber, and in one swift stroke deflected the shots. They hit two of the Gamorreans straight in the upper chest, and they fell to the ground with a squeal.
"Last chance." Xyras warned, getting into an offensive stance.
A Gamorrean charged in its own sluggish yet powerful way, and attempted to bring its axe down upon Xyras. Never has a foe been more foolish.. Thought Xyras, as he quickly evaded, before decapitating the guard in one swift, clean stroke.
Another attacked, undeterred by his ally's sudden death, and Xyras again dodged his axe swing before stabbing him in the neck.
He jumped away, and returned to his offensive stance.
"You don't want to do this!" He shouted at the attackers.
Pana cought his blade and gripped it so the the blade was facing the floor. One was held normally, the one in her left hand reversed. Pana sprinted at Del, carefully to make sure he wouldn't surprise her. She jumped in the air and tried to bring her right sabre down onto him. Her left sabre was guarding against any sneak attack he might try to launch.
In the distance Drokath heard the Gamorians and the Twi-leks getting slaughtered. This gave him ample time to enter the city via the back door of some junk shop. After fiddling around trying not to activate any of the droids, he was in. He could still hear the brawl going on, with Xyras screaming in their ears. With his speeder parked, Drokath quickly ran back to his hotel room which was stationed near Jrakratta's store and changed in to his trader gear. He could see a crowd gathering outside of the gates and decided to join them. His lightsaber and sith robes safely stowed in the hidden compartment of his pack.
Once he reached the gates he saw the dead Gamorians and the remaining Twi-leks he had ordered. He was sure to keep out of sight and smiled. Surprising a few escaped my manipulation, but all the same, the rest of them are too enraged at the thought that you may have killed their boss. Xyras, you will have to kill all of them.
Del ducked and slid to the right to avoid Pana's attack. As she landed, Del brought himself back to full height and side kicked her in the back. Pana stumbled forward before turning around to face Del again. They circled each other until Del's back was to Grissk; a foolish move, but Del didn't think the Trandoshan would interrupt the duel.
Hann had kept mostly out of the fight aside from redirecting a few blaster shots that headed towards him. Instead, he focused on the Force Sensitive as he tried to keep track of where they were.
"They're good, whoever they are" he thought as he could feel the person starting to suppress their presence. It wasn't quick enough though; Hann could feel them in the town. Noting that his master was otherwise preoccupied with the mind controlled slaves, the Padawan decided to go back in himself.
As he walked along the streets, he could see lights being turned on as people living near the gate heard the fighting outside. Hann walked right past them as he searched for the Dark Force User. Listening to the Force, he could hear it directing him into the cantina. As he entered, he saw the owner pick up a rifle and start accusing him of bringing trouble. Hann simply waved his hand and told the person to sleep as he walked past him and up the stairs; instinctively, he'd just used a mind trick. A simple one but it got the job done.
Being led to a door, he tried to open it but discovered it was locked. Unhooking the saber from his belt, he switched on the blade and started to cut his way through.
Drokath could feel Hann making his way around town looking for him. The Jedi were attempting to make their strike. He watched from the crowd as Hann walked past. While he was not looking for other Sith, it was possible the empire tailed them. He decided to stay in the crowd and allow what happens to happen. This was getting interesting.
Exams are done, so I should have more time to post now.
Sarik
The planet was dead. From the orbital scans, it looked like acidic rain was responsible for destroying most Vjun's vegetation, driving off the wildlife. Sarik told Daekaris to keep the ship's shields online to avoid damaging the hull. The Ryn wouldn't be coming with them. When Sarik had pressed him on the matter, Daekaris's answer was cryptic.
"There are dark places in the galaxy, where few tread." he had said. "This is one of them. While I wish you and your friend luck, my ways keep me from taking direct action. If Julia wishes to find and harness the scepter, she must do it alone."
"Wait, if your code prevents you from taking direct action, why would you bring us here in the first place?"
The Ryn smiled. "I was merely transporting two people from one place to another. That's hardly a crime, is it?"
The answer didn't satisfy Sarik, but he didn't push the matter. The last thing he wanted to do was argue semantics with a Force User who lived through loopholes in the system.
Wearing protective gear, Sarik and Julia set out across the barren landscape in search of their prize. Reaching the crest of a hill, the pair was met with a vast expanse of flat lands, with a backdrop of spiked mountains. The maps that Daekaris had managed to find weren't conventional charts, with coordinates and topographical analyses. Instead, they were written maps, with vague descriptions using pictures. No measures of distance to go by, Sarik was forced to guess at how long they would be traveling across the moorland.
The Scepter was hidden within the mountains, impenetrable by starships. They had also picked up an imperial garrison from orbit, so stealth was a priority for them.
"My best guess is that we'll take the better part of a week to cross into the mountain range, unless you had something else in mind, Julia."
Katarn
"Up and out boys, the last boat's leaving in fifteen!"
The mercenaries were roused from their nap at the sound of Katarn's voice. The Jedi was slapping them awake as he strode through the group. A troop ship appeared over the lip of the downed Bellator, it's entry ramps down and ready to pick up the last few soldiers. Most of the Mon Calamari and Quarren had been able to escape to the ocean, where the undersea relief submarines had been able to gather the refugees. They would be heading to the fallout shelters built into the ocean floors to wait for the fighting to stop.
Katarn didn't say anything that the troops didn't already know. The fight was going badly for everyone. The New Republic had lost three drydocks to suicide attacks by some of the more desperate elements of the Sith and Imperial fleets. The Empire themselves was paying thr price for their betrayal, suddenly facing a very angry Sith fleet and a well fortified Republic position. The three sides looked like they would pound each other into dust before admitting defeat. And that was before Kyle had heard the worst news.
Katarn was only concerned with helping his side make it out as unscathed as possible.
"Something wrong with your friend?" he asked Vic, noticing Kares's suddenly cold attitude to everything around him. "Tell me about it later. We're pulling out."
"Out?" asked a Weeqway. "Out to where? Are we leaving the planet, going to another city? What?"
"Out as in leaving the planet because we have had reports of a string of attacks along other sectors of the outer rim and personnel are needed type of out. I don't like the prospect of abandoning Mon Calamari either, but we can either put everyone through the meat grinder here and count who's left after, or we take as many as we can and fight another day somewhere else."
There were murmurs of discontent amongst the mercs. "I don't blame you for being mad." Kyle continued. "You will get paid for your services here, I'm not telling any of you that you have to come along. The New Republic forces go with me, you are free to go wherever. But any help we can get is appreciated, and won't go unnoticed."
As the last couple of inches of the metal were cut, Hann kicked it out and entered the room. The room was empty and the presence had reverted back to that cloud like feeling it had before. Whoever they were, they knew Hann was coming and fled.
"No bags. They're quick to pack or just extremely cautious" he thought. Hann searched around the room for any kind of evidence to who had been staying in the room but unfortunately it was clean, almost like nobody had been staying here. There was no logbook either to sign so it could be anyone. Even if there was, it would like have been signed with a fake alias.
Knowing not much could be done about it tonight, he would go back to his master to see if he was okay. Though he knew he could probably fend for himself, Hann did not feel fine about leaving him in the middle of a fight.
"I should probably check on the bartender first though and make sure I didn't put him in a coma."
Great, now I get to spend a long night in Jrakratta's shop, he is going to put a bounty on these Jedi for that. Drokath wandered off to Jrakratta's shop and used the key he had forged a while back to sneak in and get to Jrakratta's office. The chair he used was comfortable and would be suitable for sleeping in. Still, that was closer than it should have been, these Jedi would be tougher to get than he had hoped. This meant he could no longer go on his little side missions. Phase two was about to start, the morning will be interesting.
Del ducked and slid to the right to avoid Pana's attack. As she landed, Del brought himself back to full height and side kicked her in the back. Pana stumbled forward before turning around to face Del again. They circled each other until Del's back was to Grissk; a foolish move, but Del didn't think the Trandoshan would interrupt the duel.
Pana smirked, the kid knew his stuff. She began twirling both blades about herself, creating a wall of death that was advancing towards Del. She leapt through the air again, the two lit blades a mess of confusion, which was met by a well placed block by Del.
Pana activated the other side of Grissk's blade in her left hand, distracting Del long enough to get a massive kick in on him and backflip away. She tossed both blades in the air while doing so, catching the double ended blade in her right hand and her own in her left, landing in a defensive position.
Del stubbed back from Pana's kick. The Stormtrooper armor that he still wore had stopped any injury, but it had been a powerful strike. The activation of the third blade had thrown Del off balance; he didn't think Pana was skilled, or foolish, enough to use a saberstaff one-handed. Either she would cut her own arm off, or Del would have to fight the equivalent of three opponents at once. He hoped it would be the former.
If Del was to win this, he had to be on the look out for any openings in her guard, as the three blades would make such openings few and far between. Del walked forward and brought his lightsaber into a striking position. When only a few feet separated them he feigned a swing at her head, but changed the blades vector towards her legs instead. She jumped to avoid the strike and brought the double bladed saber towards his head. He blocked that move, and then ducked and blocked as the other two blades lashed out at him. With all sabers preoccupied, Pana had nothing guarding her own body. Capitalizing on this, Del sent a corkscrew punch into the Twi'leks abdomen. She reeled back slightly, allowing Del to catch his breath. Damn, she's good
Caster Udea, Abregado-Rae
"Well," said Caster, leaning forward conspiratorially, "The Scepter of Ragnos is said to hold the key to tapping the Force potential within all living things, force sensitive or not. With it, the Imperial Lords could finally remove that genocidal maniac Palpatine from order, and rebuild the Empire better than before."
He took a long sip of his caffeine, and continued. "The Imperial Lords are spread across the remnants of Imperial Space, built into the administration on every level. My Cell was responsible for leaking information that the Hutts were planning on staging a coup against the Empire's holdouts, and my "assassination" would help garner sympathy from the New Republic, as their Senator would also be eliminated. That would help solidify the threat that the Hutts posed, as they would be indiscriminately attacking both Imperial and Republic elements. However, Thrawn put an end to all that."
He sighed deeply. "With Thrawn's attack, my ploy lost its legitimacy, and I was forced to go on the run. So now, the other Lords are required to cover my tracks. Don't bother using this information against me. If the Lords wanted you to find them, you would. Otherwise, it isn't worth trying to track them down."
Pana recoiled from the punch, it wasn't enough to break or bruis anything but still knocked the wind out of her. She took a second to regain her breath and analyze the situation. "you might be a better blades-man than Grissk." she said before moving again. She moved at a graceful pace, completely different from the previous style.
Each of her movement seems to flow into the next, making her speed even more deadly. She began with a flip over the sabre staff and brining her own sabre down ontop of his head, but being blocked as expected. She was confident her next move would throw him into a confused state. She used the momentum from the flip to bring a spinning sabre staff in her hand directly at his face, but Del's own sabre was preoccupied at the moment. He was forced to dodge and was put into a defensive and retreating position as her movements brought a fury of blades at him.
Del's single lightsaber swung wildly trying to deflect all of Pana's attacks. He was managing, but he could feel the sweat dripping down his forehead. There was no way he could keep up like this. Suddenly, the voice of his old Jedi Master echoed through his memories. Master Thar'tul had taught him a simple move to counter such an onslaught. He could see the Zabrak demonstrating it in his mind, clear as day. Here goes nothing.
He stomp his left foot on the floor in front of him, putting him in a low, stable stance and effectively ending his retreat. Following up on the stomp, Del jabbed forward with his lightsaber. Pana had no choice but to jump backwards slightly or be impaled on the blade. With his opponent off guard, Del brought his back foot around and kicked Grissk's lightsaber out of her hand. Without putting his foot down, Del sent out another kick, this one stricking Pana square in the face.
Thresh suddenly put his arm around Rez's shoulders and began moving him in the opposite direction they had been walking.
"Did you see him?" Rez asked, trusting his man's instincts.
"I saw Udea, sitting at a table a little ways up through a gap in the crowd. Him and Beldra don't know my face. You wait here and follow my lead."
With that, the Mandalorian resumed his previous direction, but this time he walked like a staggering drunk. He approached the entrance to the Cantina and went to one of the waiters.
"Heeeeyy man, I'm lookin' for mah girlfrined, she said she was seein' some fffcuker 'round here."
His seeming drunken antics began to draw the attention of the people in the cantina.
"Look, I think you need to leave." A patron said.
"I go where I want you...you...bashhtard!" Thresh responded and then punctuated it with a punch to the man's gut.
The bar fight now held the attention of everyone in the establishment. So Rez moved in. When he was within 10 feet of the table Udea was sitting at, he sprinted up to the fugitive, threw his arm around his neck, yanked him out of his seat, drew his blaster in his free hand and pointed it at the old man at the table. There was no doubt it was the shape-shifter.
When this happened, Thresh stopped his acted and floored the patron with a quick elbow to the face. Then in one fluid motion, drew both of his blaster pistols. He pointed one at the man Rez aimed at, and held the other one at the crowd to dissuade interference.
"We are working for the Empire." Rez announced to the shocked crowd. "This man is a fugitive and we are here to take him. You can all go about your business."
"Two other groups will be here any second now boss." Thresh said to Rez.
The Twi'lek flew through the air spinning, landing in a crouched position and sliding. She stayed low an the two circled eachother until Grissk's lightsabre was behind Del. She launched at him and managed to get him to lock blades with her. The two were close enough to bump noses with the sabres between them. Pana was using one hand to hold the lock while she was pressing Del back and he had two hands holding against her.
She reached out and pulled Grissk's blade back to her hand. She reactivated a single side of the blade, holding it near his neck, enough to make him sweat. "I win, any move and you'll be decapitated." she said.
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