Ashrah
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Post by Ashrah on Sept 30, 2013 7:19:39 GMT -8
Darian vs. Ryu "It's spelled, 'vicious'" Rules: All profile-listed stuff is in the clear. Arena:  Pellaeon Gardens: In spite of being a peaceful location designed for meditation, these Gardens have already served once before, in the not-too-distant past, as the site of a failed assassination attempt. With the absence of the Fel Empire from Bastion, the once well-tended plants have begun to overgrow their boundaries. Any number of plant species could live here. The Gardens were originally designed and constructed by Gilad Pellaeon during his tenure as Grand Admiral and second-in-command under Thrawn. It might not be much of a surprise to learn that the imagery of the gardens has been fully corrupted by sigil spam, to where even the paths leading around the vegetation are designed in a fashion reminiscent of the Imperial wheel-and-spokes logo. (The figure sitting in the circular path in the image is in the geometric center of the gardens) Our duelists find themselves on opposite sides of the garden's perimeter. From here, it's a question of weaving through the all-too-sloppily maintained paths to find each other and go for the kill. |
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L???? ?o R??
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Post by L???? ?o R?? on Oct 1, 2013 10:49:11 GMT -8
Bastion is a Jedi-owned world.
So you might be wondering how I came to be here. A fair and amusing question.
You see, the Jedi-- looking at Dav Man'Sell in particular here-- have evacuated, and for what reason? The same reason that caused them to contact me in request of aid.
To deal with the report of some "demon" or something, I don't know exactly, I was too busy laughing internally to pay attention to what they said after they said that they left the planet because of the actions of one man. Well, there is a war on, so it's not unreasonable to think that they thought they might be needed elsewhere, and dealing with this guy might be considered a waste of time. Convenient excuses, if you ask me.
But I don't care much for war, and I want to see what has the Jedi in such a worry.
And thus, without a lot of grief, I was able to find the time to make a detour on Bastion with the express purpose of hunting this guy down. It seems that there isn't much more to be said.
So here I come, to the perimeter of the gardens, and I find a man on the other side of them from me, with all these plants separating us.
...Surely this can't be the reason that the Jedi fled the planet, can it? His aura is weak, he's no Forceful!
As I first place my feet onto one of the paths of a spoke leading towards the center, I find myself wondering whether this might have been a waste of a trip after all.
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Darian Beviin
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Post by Darian Beviin on Oct 5, 2013 13:27:26 GMT -8
::Initializing Head's Up Display sequence...::
::Loading Preferences... loadout on screen in 3... 2...
Welcome, Darian.::
He had come for blood, on orders from no less authority than Kad Himself, and yet, there were trace signatures dialing up on his scans of the planet. Anything that had been there had fled, more than likely tipped off by the Mandalorian invasion fleet that had menacingly planted itself in orbit and started up blockade formations. Standard protocol, really, when you considered the Mandos were in a state of Holy War. One would think after digging in at Yavin that the Jedi would have had at least the cojones to make a glorious stand.
But the forward scouting party makes landfall and they scatter? What was this, Christmas? Or, since Christmas doesn't exist, some other holiday where Priests of Kad get unlikely gifts? (Not to be confused with little boys going into confession booths.) His helmet slipped over his head and he was greeted by the startup screen, then buggered in the face by a series of prompts, which were followed quickly by a proximity alarm buzzing in his inner ear. Blinking, Darian dismissed the annoying ringing, and he brought up his thermal imaging, and he glanced through the native flora- temperate, but still not hot enough to give the signature of a warm-blooded creature.
And there it was, in the distance- humanoid, by the shape, tall, but not a behemoth. The thermal bled out of view and his visor magnified the image ×200, bringing a normal sized view of the man. Erm. Man? Woman? Some weird looking git, at any rate. Not a normal human skin tone, so something... else. If he really wanted to cross reference the appearance on the HoloNet, he could, but now just didn't seem like a great time for that.
No, now, he was sure the creature was at least dimly aware of his presence. It seemed to be straining, as though searching for something, though it was evident that it was relatively unsure of what exactly to be looking for. Pity.
Lifting the Ripper from his hip, Darian lined up a shot- nonlethal, for the most part. Center mass, easier to hit. More guaranteed, even with some burst of unexpected motion. He wouldn't get more than one opportunity like this handed to him, after all, so it was better to make it count. Squeezing the trigger, Darian fired off the shot, and it screamed loudly it's report.
Best start things off with a bang, am I right?
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L???? ?o R??
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Post by L???? ?o R?? on Oct 10, 2013 6:44:45 GMT -8
We're quite far away.
(Using Darian's number of x200 zoom to bring up a 'normal-sized view' of me, and estimating that a roughly 2m-sized person can be viewed normally [that is, close enough to see stuff like his expression, but not so close that you can't adequately target his torso] at about a 2m distance, you trivially come up with a rough estimate for our separation at 400m. Give or take.)
I'd say he's maybe half a kilometer away or so, it's kind of hard to judge exact distances when I'm using Force Sight. What's not hard at all to judge is that he is reaching for his rifle.
I'm not permitted a moment of surprise. Save it for later, Ryu! Worry about the gun after he's shot it!
The sound of the rifle firing will arrive behind the bullet, so that's useless. What saves me is, as usual, Force Sight. I see the moment his finger squeezes the trigger.
From there, at this distance, there's roughly half a second until the slug arrives. That's more than enough time for me to jump out of the way. Doesn't really matter what he aimed for, does it? Half a second is easy, and he made it a little easier by lining up the shot before he took it, so I was well able to ready my legs so that all that's left is the reaction to the finger. (Of course we're coming pretty close to the end of the rifle's effective range so there's that, too-- he has to line it up to shoot accurately, a shot from the hip simply won't cut it when we're this far away.)
Well, so, rather than remain motionless after my hop to the left, that level of surprise is now free to reach me.
...I guess, if he's good enough to take a shot at me from there without feeling the need to close in on me, he might be good enough to make all the Jedi run away.
But if this's how it's gonna be...
I can't blame him for trying to take advantage of the moment, but he's also not dealing with the average mortal, either. Still, dodging that rifle will eventually be bad for my health, so to shut it down I continue where my dodge left off and run straight into the bushes.
Not merely 'bushes', you know? They're assortments of enormous exotic plants, many of them larger than a typical being entirely, and the whole mess is fairly dense. Not to worry, not to worry. I am quite all right! I'm glad you're concerned for my safety when jumping into thickets.
So I'm trying to go fairly deep into this mess. The reason? He can't hope to hit me with his slugs from there. In fact, he can't even rightfully hope to catch sight of me from there. I believe there's no sensor in existence that will be able to pick me out. So I'm sacrificing mobility for probably the only cover I can take, but that's fine.
I have my own 'bang' to deliver, and I don't need to be out in the open to send it his way, either. I think a Force Crush will be an excellent response...
...but it's going to be a bit before I've assembled my focus to deliver it over such a long distance. Well, you know how these things go. Stupid Jedi. Can't take care of their own problems.
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Darian Beviin
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Post by Darian Beviin on Oct 10, 2013 17:16:36 GMT -8
::Calculating exact response time... awareness level above average. Estimated 98.7% likelihood of Force Sensitivity. Failsafe protocols engaged.::
The alert raced before his right eye before he had ever realized his shot had gone wide, and his lips turned downward into a snarl beneath his buy'ce. Another damned disillusioned freak with delusions of self importance and immense power striding forward with some purpose in his mind. Or whatever that look on his face had been. Darian neither knew nor cared.
His display tracked the movements of the strange humanoid even at unbelievable speed, and so, he watched the bastard take cover, and when the motion ceased...
::Target lock initialized... wrist laser primed.::
He began to stalk into the overgrowth with purpose- perhaps the man might even think it was safe to come out from cover. Didn't matter, overall, though. He knew where the hutuun was. The Heads Up Display did things that eyes couldn't.
Yes, the Sith... Jedi... thing... had taken cover, and Darian had no proper line of sight, nor Force sensitivity. Who needed that when you had a super advanced live feed of your surroundings panning out topographical scans over one eye, then relaying back an overlay of motion detection? Sure, it didn't give him anything as fancy as a vital statistic readout- he would need line of sight before he could run any of those diagnostics and set them on screen- insane how much these damn things can do, isn't it?
But all the technology and magic in the world are useless without the skill to put it to good use. Just seeing this stuff didn't make Darian competent enough to capitalize on the advantage. No, being able to employ a HUD like this one took years of training and conditioning on top of what he had endured in his youth- which included, but was not limited to, the use of firearms.
For now, this was the most practical approach. And Beviin was a practical man.
His arm rose and he fired off another round, this time directly at the cover that the prey had chosen. Sure, it wasn't a straight shot, but a Ripper could still do pretty decent damage through anything short of thick durasteel. Plant-life wasn't going to abate much.
The Ripper roared again, and Darian prepared for the contingency that the man would move again, or even give reprisal through some other inhuman means. He had other weapons, no less deadly than the Ripper- albeit in their own way. No, he would see how this magician played under heavy fire. And then, he would eat his ashes.
Kad demanded nothing less.
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L???? ?o R??
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Post by L???? ?o R?? on Oct 13, 2013 11:58:14 GMT -8
The human eye is limited. Sensors are designed with that in mind, and compensate for those limits accordingly. They fall short, however, due to the fundamental philosophy upon which they are founded: to detect some phenomena that human senses cannot. This is why the superior method of detection will always fall in favor of the Force sensitive, because 'some phenomena' is not the full limit of the Force. In other words, I could never hide from a Forceful like this.
But I said that I do not believe there exists a sensor capable of finding me as I am now, and that is exactly what I meant.
Darian's method of detection is radio-wave based (as RADAR is the most commonly-used EM wave for both topography and motion detection I think it's safe to assume this much). Imaging based on radio waves has superior penetration power compared to all other imaging techniques-- waves higher in energy than microwave are readily absorbed or scattered by most solid materials, which is why visible light doesn't let you see through walls. Its low absorption cross-section is what gives radio frequencies ubiquitous use in communications technology, as its effective atmospheric wave propagation is on the order of 103 to 106 meters, depending on the frequency. This low absorption is, however, the source of the main drawback to using it for imaging: at these frequencies, the detector relies on backscattering of the emitted waves. Using radio-wave absorption or emission of whatever object is being imaged is not viable.
Thus we come full circle to the problem of finding me the way it's proposed. While in principle radio waves can be used, the reality is that this is not a situation where it will yield useful information.
Boba Fett's helmet was able to use radio waves to peer into nearby rooms to check for threats. The difference in that scenario from this one is that I am, as stated, in dense foliage. When Boba Fett looks into a room, he's able to see silhouettes of objects due to the large difference between air-radio wave scattering and solid-radio wave scattering. The effective backscattering difference between me and the plants is negligible. There's too little contrast to be able to distinguish me from the tree.
Okay, say you, then we'll use edge-detection! You can determine where I am by using the difference between my skin backscatter and the lack of backscatter from the air. In this way, you get a silhouette, and the surface outline of me is going to look like me, and be distinct from that of the tree. And I would say that you are correct. But, you run into two problems here: first, how good is the resolving power of the helmet's detector? Radar makes for great topographical imagery, which is by definition of stationary objects and therefore can be averaged over a long timeframe. This is a real-time feed. Thus, the signal-to-noise ratio cannot be solved by increasing the number of averages taken, and increasing the amount of signal used is not an option, either. After all, most topographical images are taken by satellites, whose primary function is to emit and detect radio waves. The helmet has an awful lot more functions than just that crammed into it, we've already seen a handful of them. So I question whether the helmet's radio imaging has sufficient spatial resolution in its transformed low-S/N image to distinguish my arm and my torso from being just one big blob-- and even if it can, you run into the second problem. The map is being projected on the screen over one of his eyes. So if the radio mapping technique of his helmet has enough resolving power to see me in principle, the problem is that the three-dimensional image must be transformed onto a two-dimensional screen. So if it's good enough to see more detail than just one large blob, the problem you run into is that all the data points are going to be overlaying each other, because there's not enough difference in backscattering efficiency to see me as something distinct from the foliage. With all those data points, you could make out one hundred possible vaguely humanoid shapes. There's too much uncertainty in the mapping technique to pick me out, it'd be like taking a far-too-underexposed photograph of a crowd and claiming to be able to pick out a specific individual. Technology is great but it has its limitations.
This is why, of course, Darian supplemented the first technique with the second: motion detection via the radio emissions.
Skipping over the aforementioned problems in backscattering efficiency leading to low signal-to-noise ratios in the first place, the other problem is that the density of the foliage means that I am not the only thing moving, here. Motion detectors work great when they are set up to look at a room, where everything is pretty much motionless until a human comes traipsing through. It's because they have as long as they need to get a good background threshold for movement. They work very poorly when set to seek out a small amount of motion in the first place, and when looking for a small amount of motion when the background is likewise not still. As I make my way deeper into the bushes, the density of space means that there are bushes up to a few meters away moving as well as I push my way through plants and wiggle through, and as they make their way back to their undisturbed position as I pass. All this, even disregarding the notion that a light breeze coming through would be the equivalent of a period of static over the music playing on your favorite radio station.
All this means that Darian is taking a shot into an area where there is a relatively wide margin of error regarding where I actually am.
You say you know where the hutuun is, but I say no you don't. Not well enough to threaten me, anyways.
On the other hand, I know exactly where you are.
His gun rises and fires twice. Within the poorly-determined region of probability of finding me, the slugs encounter one last problem, and that's the foliage.
We would all immediately agree that a durasteel plate of sub-capital ship thickness would yield to the Ripper's slugs in a heartbeat.
But we would not say that a Ripper slug would tear through several rounded pieces without some deflection of trajectory in the long run.
Not only is Darian firing at me when I am in cover, but he is firing from cover himself. Lots and lots of bushes to pass through over those 350 meters or so (the distance shrank since he started stalking this way).
Tch. I don't even have to dodge this one; when I gaze upon him with Force Sight, his gun is clearly not pointing at me.
The key word we should take away is stalking. Not sprinting at full speed.
So confident in his technology and firearm to pin me down that he does not need to make any more of an effort than this.
For that reason, I do not capitalize on the moment. It would surely be over if I Crushed his heart in two. How could a god gain any satisfaction in doing that? If he died that easily, he would have no understanding of what it was that killed him.
Such a reason is compelling enough for this god to show his mercy.
Let me make him appreciate my power in more of its fullness, instead. Let me force him to come after me the way he should have done from the very moment I stepped into the bushes.
So, instead of using a Force Crush to take his life, I will use it to take away his gun.
The effort required is greater. Flesh and bones are far more yielding targets than metal. (Well actually bones can be quite resilient if you try to Crush them in the direction in which they're intended to take pressure-- even more resilient than most metals-- but if you angle the pressure from a different direction they snap easily) But the Ripper has a very large nose, and that makes the perfect target. Let me pinch it just a bit, I don't need to bend the barrel or seal it off completely (which could very well be impossible as things are right now), just squeeze it inward so that any subsequent shots fired are going to have propulsion issues due to poor projectile-barrel fitting and furthermore be deflected by the warped metal, and he'll be left with a dud weapon.
So I stop pushing through the bushes for a second, and reach out my hand in his direction to help exert my influence over the Force as I target his gun with my Crush.
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Darian Beviin
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Post by Darian Beviin on Oct 13, 2013 13:08:55 GMT -8
Perfectlt played. There was no way to tell exactly where the force user was down to the exact coordinate. Of course not. What Darian did have, however, was a relatively good idea of where the man had been, and a very concise idea of the direction he was going in. What he couldn't possibly have was a clear shot. Brilliant mind on this guy, to figure out where the wrench was in the machine. Darian nodded in stoic silence as he realized just what kind of monster he was dealing with. Not one of those "get-in-there-and-fight-in-your-face" types, but a calculating sort of fiend. Just like him.
The shot fired off, and maybe the other man didn't have to dodge. But he did deign to move. And that, too, registered on the radar.
It was barely a movement, yes, not enough to register more than a 'blip' on the screen. But a forcie didn't need to move more than that to do any kind of damage. Darian's on screen weapon integrity display showed that something was wrong with the Ripper. At first, a violent shudder. Then, an imblosion- nothing violent, no, just enough to make the weapon useless. Not enough to make it dangerous to him.
The bastard was attempting to toy with him.
Darian's HUD locked down the small target- small enough that it was negligible, even with zoom, considering cover. But it wasn't the arm that Darian targeted. His left arm extended toward the foliage in the area around the force user, and he fired a rapid burst from the wrist laser toward the flora. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven... and the arm shivered protest as the heat sink began to sizzle and initiate the cooldown.
The blasts were not meant to pierce through- though it was not impossible that they could. At least two struck green and ignited immediately, portions of the cover annihilated instantly by the energy bolts. And the fire began to start in a splashing inferno. Darian didn't need to see the SithJediThing to make it regret that little magic trick.
It wanted him to stop shooting, that was pretty evident. And as he threw his Ripper uselessly to the ground and drew Gorehound from his waist, the other man would see he was going to get his wish. But not in the way he had hoped. No. Darian was going to make it as painful as possible, and do as much damage as he could.
Time to even the odds.
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L???? ?o R??
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Post by L???? ?o R?? on Oct 15, 2013 8:04:02 GMT -8
What is ...this feeling?
The man tosses aside his broken gun and raises his wrist, firing off so many shots with the laser that I was certain that he hadn't learned his lesson yet. A single shot makes it all the way through the growth and buries itself into my coat, whose Norris pigments dissipate and absorb the energy harmlessly, and vague annoyance begins to creep up on me.
But then he does something that causes that feeling to fade fast in deference to another. He grabs a tomahawk from his waist. Ah..!
This feeling is eagerness!
You whore, you'd better not let me down after getting me this excited to enter the grind with you!
Those wrist laser shots of his were to ignite the foliage-- that is to say, flush me out from cover. Darian Beviin, the patron saint of frustrated campers everywhere! Lighting fires like it's his job.
And it's a good thought, too, because a fire would spread in dense undergrowth far faster than I can run away, right? The density of plants which made it so wonderful to hide in would otherwise be my undoing.
Well, he has no way of knowing, of course, but I know it to not be the case. I have contingencies everywhere, do you think I'd have dove into cover if I wasn't prepared to get myself out? So I repay my debt to these wonderful plants which sheltered me so magnificently from his gun by activating Freedom's energy sheath, wheeling around, and breaking into a jog, cutting quite mercilessly through them with arms, upper legs, and torso as I flee the frolicking flames so merrily birthed by Darian's tech. The energy sheath faces no resistance as it cuts to smoke the plant growth.
While neither as maneuverable nor as efficient as a lightsaber, there are some situations in which my coat's ability to light up like one is invaluable.
So in short order I've bushwhacked (bush...plowed? Bush-trucked? Bush-energied?) my way through to the other side of the plants from where I began. That is, I've gone from one spoke to the adjacent spoke on the Imperial Wheel through a wedge-shaped patch of plants. Darian is inside another of those wedges, and he had been facing the first wedge I was in, across the central circle from me.
I extinguish Freedom when I reach the exit.
Sadly, there's not a chance in the world that I can lob a grenade far enough to get close to him from here. Which is what I'd like to do in order to demonstrate that I, too, can light bushes on fire. But not from this far away, I can't. 300m is way beyond my range.
Perhaps he'll come out on his own. Or maybe he'll stay in there and keep trying to shoot me with his wrist laser. After all, I'm now far from concealed to his fancy helmet. As a precaution, I pull Devient from my left hip pocket. If I put her on, in conjunction with Freedom, I'll be pretty well-protected from the energy bolts.
But I get the feeling, from the weapon in his hand, that he won't stay in cover for much longer.
Slowly, I start to walk in that direction. My right hand snakes its way inside Freedom and wraps itself around one of the halves of Trogdor to pull it out from my back. But as long as my left hand is holding Devient, I can't grab the other half yet. Prickles crawl up the back of my neck like the little sparks leading to a flame that we were just given a demonstration of a moment ago. Heh. Heh heh.
Let's go! Axe versus spear, which one will win?
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Darian Beviin
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Post by Darian Beviin on Oct 15, 2013 13:01:52 GMT -8
::Thermal energy spike detected in area. Warning. Sustained temperature increase could be lethal to humanoids if exposure is prolonged.::
The alert fanned out over the topographical imaging, and with a blink, Darian dismissed the radar and motion sweeping sensors, bringing up the HUD's primary view. The radar could not accurately pinpoint the man now, due to the subtle vibrations in the air given off by the flames- such phenomena also inhibited accurate thermal imaging, since the heat levels were so high, everything blurred together. Instead, he would have to rely on more rudimentary methods to engage his prey.
::Running diagnostic on armor integrity now... sustained heat levels in direct fire will result in lethality after four minutes of continuous immersion. Calculating possible safe avenues of approach...::
Darian narrowed his eyes as the HUD searched for the other man, this time skimming over the area by attempting to tap a satellite signal VIA the HoloNet and bounce back a triangulated position. The other man was invisible to it for a solid amount of time, of course, still racing through the plantlife, but when he emerged, Darian got an alert that brought up a minuscule map in the top left corner of his HUD. Instead of maximizing the feed, though, he grunted a few words- inaudible, though a few words sounded like 'just... the kriffing... distance...'
A numeral flickered to life in front of his left eye, displaying the general number of proposed meters between them. By that number, his approach would not be incredibly long, and yet, he was certain that the other man would not go without noticing, either. Something unnatural about the man- Force or not- made Darian more cautious. It was as if he were being watched. But not just watched. As if the man were able to see him anywhere, at any time. Like he had expanded senses, just like Darian's buy'ce offered.
It'd explain how he knew to move as quickly as he had to avoid the Ripper, and to compound that, the wrist laser. Hell, to avoid that trick with the wrist laser was the giveaway. Darian was unsure whether he'd made it out completely unscathed, but certainly, he'd made it out without being cooked alive.
Now Darian had picked up the pace, uninterested in the HUD's insistent protest. Marching toward the enemy, through the flame, tomahawk in hand at his side. As the digits began to dwindle, Darian knew, the other man was just as interested in closing with him.
And he smiled.
::Warning, avoid open flame. Armor integrity holding at 87%. Systems may suffer-::
"Mute," Darian hissed.
And suddenly, he was alone.
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L???? ?o R??
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Post by L???? ?o R?? on Oct 15, 2013 20:28:10 GMT -8
There's probably no more poetic way to describe it than has just been done.
With Darian closing on me and me closing on Darian, we find ourselves where we ought to have begun things, instead of playing with guns and magical powers: across the central circle of the hub from each other, weapons in hand, prepared to show each other the meaning of power in an up-close-and-personal sort of way.
Every time I glance closely upon this guy, in spite of his shortcomings with the Force, I can't help but pay attention to the details. What's that impression that he gives me..? Forced, I think. This man belongs to a higher calling than his contemporaries. The Jedi must have sensed this, on some level, which might be why they fled before him. Now, is it only me who can give him what he wants?
Well. I have an answer to that question and he might beg to disagree. We'll find out soon enough, ne?
The half of Trogdor gripped in my right hand bursts all four of its blades into life and, gingerly stashing Devient back in my left hip pocket upon the revelation that an attack with the wrist laser was not forthcoming, the other half found its way into my left hand, which follows suit.
From across the clearing to Darian, I salute by raising each in turn.
And from there it's a steady pace inwards.
I'm in no hurry to make the first strike, but rather make it my goal for now to observe how he closes the distance as well. That he might change his mind and start firing on me with ranged weapons is a thought that rises in the back of my mind, so I do maintain some precautions. On the approach, I hold a steady right-forward stance with that saber in an en guard pose, freely prepared to defend upwards or downwards from waist height at a moment's notice merely by flexion or relaxation of the elbow. The left hand trails behind, being the stronger of the two; its saber tips pierce the ground behind me and trace my after-steps as I stalk towards him in a straight line.
As he put it, there's still just the kriffing distance to close before any more action can take place.
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Darian Beviin
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Post by Darian Beviin on Oct 20, 2013 20:41:20 GMT -8
Technology is just magic for the ungifted, Darian had heard. The great equalizer between men like the one standing before him and himself. Men who strode with confidence and purpose, magical or not, all shared a gift that was beyond trivialities like the Force and armor. The words still ran blankly across the lower portion of the HUD, where they could be ignored just as easily as a muted voice, but they were no less annoying. "Weapon signature concurrent with lightsaber technology. Outlandish design suggests polearm-like tactics."
Sometimes, Darian had to wonder if the ghost in his machines had a sense of humor. The man's weapon was shaped obviously enough that it's primary use seemed more than evident. It was the lack of fear- no- the utter defiance in this man that seemed so charming. Even in the face of conflict sure to end in death, he had honor- honor unlike any Jedi or Sith Darian had ever faced.
If that did not hold, and the man crushed at his head or fired off some sort of death ray, Darian supposed he ought to deserve the subsequent death. As the fasteners clicked and the helmet slid free to reveal his slick hair and sweat soaked face, the High Priest glimpsed the creature with his own eyes.
There was something to that- neither machine nor magic could replace the sensation of experiencing something with your own senses. Vision, perhaps, was the most beautiful and at the same time most tragic sense. Glancing at the man's face, Darian felt a pain twist in his chest, knowing that the enemy would never experience him the same way. It was not enough to stagger him into any sort of disarray, but it was palpable in his thoughts. Darian pitied the Sith.
The helmet clattered to the ground uselessly, as though Darian were casting away scraps of himself, tossing away layers of his being to reveal his soul. His green gaze flowed over the man, and his fingers clenched about Gorehound as he breathed the smoky air, finding reverence in the destruction. As the man- who stood taller than Darian- came toward him, the Mandalorian rolled his shoulders out.
And his left foot came forward, the same-side hand rising to a mid-level guard in front of his body, the right hand slightly behind it, poised to reinforce the tomahawk in some unknown manner. His knees were bent and his back straight, hunched forward so that his center of gravity was low, his level following suit.
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L???? ?o R??
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Post by L???? ?o R?? on Oct 28, 2013 8:13:48 GMT -8
Hey, hey, hey, the Mando-boy removed his helmet!
His partial hesitation to do so was lost to me-- after all, it never occurred to me to try anything 'death-ray' or 'crushing' when he exposed himself. If that was what I was after, I would have done it to his skull instead of his gun a few minutes ago. Of course, he might have escaped it in some clever fashion, too. This guy, even though he doesn't have the Force, must be pretty powerful.
I wonder if he could become a god in his own right, too.
He adopts a bit of a crouch, which leads me to think to myself whether he's going to try to tackle me when he sees an opening. The brutal implications of his axe-weapon lend credence to that line of thought. As I approach in a line, it occurs to me that I have really poor chances of dealing with that very well, being both taller and less stocky, and in a stance that has little side-to-side movement. I ought to therefore come up with some countermeasure in case that happens. Force Barrier is the easy answer, I'm well-prepared to set one up between us if need be, but maybe I should see if I can be a little bit more sophisticated..? He has also assumed a side-on posture that is mirror-image to mine. Where my right foot is forward, his left is ahead. And his blade is held in that left hand.
Are there many left-handed Mandalorians? It would be interesting to find out whether their genetics favor that handedness more or less than the standard human bloodline. You would expect that, if there's any difference, it would be in favor of that trait. After all, they say that left-handers have an advantage in combat, being able to strike in ways that right-handers are not used to.
I would know.
I'm left-handed.
So my right-side forward stance tends to be a little more defense-oriented, because my less dominant hand is the one that's positioned to strike with greatest ease. Which means that I can't take advantage of as many angles as I would be able to with a left-foot-forward stance, and therefore I'll have to work a little harder this way if I want to attack fluidly. Thus, more defensive.
Still, defense is best supplemented by adequate offense, and I do have the range advantage by virtue of height and weapon both.
AND! Therefore let us experiment to see how this model of opponent handles!
I advance the last five steps between him and the edge of my range at twice the pace I had been using. Clear indication that I will attack him now. The target and the angle? His face, in a stab. To get above his mid-guard I rotate the right elbow upwards in a counter-clockwise half-circle and plunge it forward, slightly downward (as his head level according to this stance of his is going to be just about chest height on me). At full extension, by my range estimation, merely the tip of the center blade will be able to pierce; but it will bury itself in his nose and burn it clean off if it does. This stab is supplemented by an emphasized advance-step with my front leg-- not enough to be called a full-fledged lunge, but enough to distinguish it from the other steps I've been taking-- and extension of my right arm.
My left remains still for now.
Go on, Mando-boy. Show me how that tomahawk works for you!
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Darian Beviin
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Post by Darian Beviin on Dec 19, 2013 20:55:51 GMT -8
A tomahawk lends to a face paced style that trades straightforward power for brutal finesse; but beskar'gam is cumbersome, and makes the pace steadier, with the added bonus of durability. So, what happens when you take both of them out of their prospective comfort zones and throw them together?
Usually, bad things. But, as the energy blades shredded the air toward his face, Darian leaned to his left. It wasn't a slight let so much as turning his body and effectively moving his torso out of the path of the strike. He watched the weapon sear by, inches from his face, but didn't wait for any sort of follow through. That was sure to happen.
Now, when you're factoring movement in armor, you factor general speed of movement in feet or inches over land, not reactions as a general rule. There is a degree of fatigue that comes from moving at a fast pace in armor, but to someone who does it often, that becomes increasingly less (though it by no means disappears entirely.) Now, certainly, you'd be much slower than someone bereft of armor- that goes without saying- but there are ways to effectively compensate for that. Moving entire portions of your body, rather than trying to move just one limb, is a big one. Thus, instead of trying to throw his arm up defensively, Darian opted to fully evade the disorienting blow.
But, this Sith had probably accounted for that eventuality.
So, when the man moved into his half-assed lunge (it's a feint) Darian's gauntleted right hand swung up into a face level guard. That put his beskar between that trident and his face, because all it takes is one good follow through and Sithy-boy can go headhunting. Where does that put us? Now, the Sith has cut past Darian's face, and now, the Shekemire has his left side facing the strange man's body.
Left side equals Gorehound.
So, as the three pronged weapon is skirting past- probably the area of the weapon that is blunt, rather than blade- close to Darian, he pivots his left leg- the way a man punching cross body might to amplify his punch with his body weight- and slams Gorehound down toward the meaty area of the Sith's extended right arm, specifically above the elbow joint, where it adjoins the bicep.
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L???? ?o R??
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Post by L???? ?o R?? on Dec 20, 2013 13:05:38 GMT -8
A sidestep coupled with a fairly large move forward-- he had to step past my saber blades, as I specifically intended for the blades not to go past his face-- is his rebuttal. I can handle that much; at the very moment he steps to my right it is quite clear what his target is going to be.
A spearman who offers you the outside of his arm is not a spearman for very long.
My half-step-lunge is ideal for just this: while its offensive range is not incredible, its flexibility is unparalleled. When his left hand raises for a chop, I do not have to redistribute my weight at all (as I would have had to do if I had fully committed to the lunge) to counter; just the slightest adjustment with my back leg to reposition my torso better.
When I stabbed, I had up-turned my elbow in order to lift the saber over the top of his mid-level guard in order to make the reach towards his face a reality. Now, since he went to my right, I see no reason not to do the same. The elbow bends, leading the way, while the rest of the arm follows. I know that there is not a bladed weapon in existence that can make a cut without a windup motion, and his tomahawk is no exception. My goal is to block it: to intercept its chop on the early part of the downswing by meeting the underside of his wrist as it makes the movement. So, not to block the weapon itself, but to block the arm that guides it; and to block it using even less movement than he needed to set up for the attack (since my arm was fully extended to begin with, and I barely needed to move to get inside the range of the Gorehound and set up the block I wanted).
The best-case scenario is that this block winds up catching a reflex nerve in his wrist that makes him drop the weapon. But I think the far more likely result is that he's going to instead be on the beneficial end. Blocking an armored arm with nothing but the textiles over my skin is going to apply some pressure, if not knock my arm away after the contact. And even then, surely he will slide his arm down and try to hook my arm with the axe-head-- my arm, which holds a spear pointing in entirely the wrong direction at this point.
But do not forget that I just need to get the arm away from danger momentarily, and do not forget that as far as spears are concerned, I have two of those things.
My counter-riposte runs even the risk of being overlooked entirely by virtue of staying low, although this Mando-boy is a good warrior, so he'll either see it or sense my bloodlust or something. In any case, I note that his attention was on his attack with the left and his face-block with the right. While that will certainly shift soon, and I may have missed the window by performing a relatively slower attack, this is still the best shot I've got, so you'll forgive me for taking it.
I aim a low knee-height sweep coming around my body from my no-stance left side arm towards his left knee, the forward pivot leg he's just recently used. It is a weak motion due to the length of my saber hilt. But a weak hit with a saber is sufficient to cut. And against armor that rejects contact with a saber, sometimes weaker is better: you stay in proximity to the surface, increasing the time you have to find your way into such crevices as 'the place where there is no armor so that the knees can bend', which is what I am after here.
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Xeonon Solomon
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Post by Xeonon Solomon on Apr 17, 2014 6:26:26 GMT -8
This was just getting good.
I have to say reading such techno jargin hurt my brain, where most people would have just chopped it up as star wars science you went the extra mile good for you Ryu.
Now I wont beat around the bush, this duel had no definitive winner nor did anyone lose. It had only just started after 13 posts. As such I am going to call this one as a tie.
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