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Post by Whill Shaman Erevis on Dec 19, 2020 11:52:48 GMT -8
Hoth. I mean....it's Hoth. Abandoned Rebel Hanger bay. Detritus. Old broken speeders. Maybe a wampa skeleton.....
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Xeonon Solomon
The First Order
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Post by Xeonon Solomon on Dec 20, 2020 11:21:42 GMT -8
Xeonon walked through this broken and forgotten part of Echo Base. Rubble, snow, and duracrete littered the floor as well as the largest Wampa skeleton he had ever seen. Along one side of the wall lay the rusting bulks of rebel fighters left behind during their evacuation of the base. Looking around he tried to find his opponent but could not see them anywhere. He wore his usual Imperial Knight armour the blood red colour standing out amoung the white and grey. Already in his hand the silver lightsaber synonymous with his order was the only thing casting any light in the abandoned hanger. On his right hip both his blasters were holstered in the event he would need them.
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Post by Malapert Piffle on Dec 22, 2020 11:18:52 GMT -8
*Dark and abandoned is the perfect state of things. The hangar bay of the old Echo Base is littered with cargo boxes, defunct equipment, and symbolism. But the significance of the site is lost on the likes of Malapert Piffle.
He hears him, first. Malapert, Xeonon. The hum of the lightsaber and the crunch of snow underfoot. Echoing through the icy stillness. Then, he sees him; and shortly thereafter, smells him. A large, armored, oily old man. Like a nursing home mixed with a mechanic's workshop.
Malapert had been traipsing in through one of the many empty hallways when he reached the main hangar area. As he catches sight of Xeonon (or more specifically, the illumination of the man bathed in the glow of his lightsaber), Malapert grows alert. There's a chance that, in the low-light conditions, Xeonon hasn't caught sight of the Kowakian monkey-lizard yet. And so Malapert scampers up the frame of a nearby bit of scaffolding, making his way up to higher ground. Since he's climbing, he doesn't draw a weapon yet.
Seeing another living being always brings to mind the possibility to play a mischeivous trick and get some laughs. Malapert idly wonders whether it would be possible to bury him under one of the several Rebel snowspeeders on the far wall. But where's the punchline?*
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Xeonon Solomon
The First Order
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Post by Xeonon Solomon on Dec 24, 2020 6:36:33 GMT -8
He may be into his golden years but there were two things stopping Xeonon from retiring. His connection to the force kept him young beyond his years and a sense of duty. An Imperial Knight was an Imperial Knight for life, and while certainly a handful of exceptions had been made through the years he was not one of them. He still had a lot of mistakes to make up for.
Hearing the pitter patter of small feet, beyond the light coming from his silver blade he would have chalked it up to womp rats if it wasn't for All The Snow. Maybe someone transported them here while Echo Base was still a functioning rebel base and these were the descendants of those original rats. As he kept walking his mind idlily thought of a warren of cannibalistic womp rats stalking him just outside the light of his blade waiting for the right moment to strike for fresh meat.
Shaking his head at that though Xeonon walked out of the hanger into one of the hallways thinking his opponent might have gotten lost in the maze of tunnels.
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Post by Malapert Piffle on Dec 24, 2020 9:54:21 GMT -8
*Womp rats, averaging over 200cm in length, are significantly larger than Kowakian monkey-lizards. A pack of starving womp rats would be one of the most horrifying things to encounter as a lone being made of meat.
Xeonon begins walking away from the center of the hangar proper, while two beady eyes watch him go. As he makes his way toward one of the auxiliary hallways, Malapert determines that he is unwilling to let him walk away like so. Having first mounted the scaffolding, Malapert now leaps from the topmost rail and grabs hold of the exposed ceiling beams.
With one hand, one foot, and his tail clinging to the skeletal framework (three points of contact for maximum safety!), Malapert pauses for a moment. He procures the thermal detonator clipped onto his bandelier belt, and arms it with a short (five second) timer. Relinquishing his prehensile tail's grasp on the rafter, Malapert wraps it around the device and begins swinging across the ceiling towards that hallway.
The jungles of Kowak this is certainly not, but Malapert Piffle's dexterity is never in question. Even while he's holding a grenade (comparable in scale to a volleyball held by an adult male), his swing is unfettered. Within three of those few seconds, he's gotten to where he needs to be on the ceiling. With one last grip onto the metal beam, he propels his butt forward and lets the detonator fly, using his tail like an improvised sling.
The detonator is thrown, across the gap and towards the hallway into which Xeonon entered just moments before. Soaring like a proton torpedo into the thermal exhaust port of the Death Star I. It will hit the ground and bounce (twice) on the hard-packed frozen layer of snow covering the hallway floor before it detonates, given the amount of time left on the fuse.
When it detonates, the grenade will explode to the extent of a 5-meter radius. It is unclear how far into the hallway Xeonon has ventured, but it is safe to say that his was a slow walking pace, being on the lookout ahead of him in the poorly-lit hallway for signs of his opponent. However Xeonon fares, the hallway itself will almost surely take worse damage. The explosive burst will shatter the frozen outer layer of the tunnel, followed by rapid dissipation of heat into the exposed softer layers. To say that it is at risk of collapse is putting it lightly.
Malapert Piffle, renovator extraordinaire.
After loosing the grenade, Malapert continues his follow-through on an upswing, and lands atop the railwork girding the ceiling. He catwalks his way towards the hallway's opening, in part to watch the explosion and in part to see the aftermath. Jokes are only funny if you see the best part. 'You had to be there,' isn't that what they always say?*
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Xeonon Solomon
The First Order
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Affiliation: First Order
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Post by Xeonon Solomon on Dec 25, 2020 15:00:59 GMT -8
Like all renovators Piffle was loud, and quite frankly annoying. As the thermal detonator soared towards him he heard the tell tale whine of the countdown getting loud and louder. Closer and closer. Turning to look at the source of the noise Xeonon could not see who had thrown it, with Piffle being lost in the darkness of the rafters. As the detonator hit the ground on the first bounce he threw out his open palm and pushed the explosive away from where he stood. It had been flying towards a broken T-47 but before it could hit, it exploded lighting up the hanger. He could feel the heat of the explosion on his face and knew if he had been only a few inches closer he would likely have needed new synth skin. Whomever he was facing was in the hanger proper and they were hiding. So much for a fair fight!
His voice echoes off the walls and got lost behind him. The explosion had ignited something near the airspeeder. Maybe an old fuel tank, or maybe some poor rebel had gotten stuck in the base and was eaten by those ravenous womp rats. The dancing flame flickered gave off weird shadows as he looked around trying to find a spot where someone may have been standing to have thrown the detenator at him.
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Post by Malapert Piffle on Dec 26, 2020 8:48:34 GMT -8
*His tenderly-placed grenade is repelled from the hallway, out into the hangar proper where it detonates. The confinement radius property of thermal detonators means that though its destructive power is great, the rafters themselves do not even get the benefit of being warmed by the explosion. They're too high. And hence, Xeonon has saved himself and the hallway. At the expense of that poor airspeeder and nothing else.
Some people just have no eye for beauty.
After righting himself on the rafters from his acrobatic routine, Malapert was not far from the doorway in which Xeonon now stood. Watching the explosion go off out where he didn't want it to, Malapert slips his head beneath the strap of his bandelier belt, and twists the bottom knob on the EMP grenade, arming it to detonate on impact. He lays the belt gently over the rail - moving slowly for two reasons. Firstly, to avoid detection, and secondly, to maintain careful balance and avoid sudden shock while setting it into place. And then, while Xeonon's protest is being uttered, Malapert walks further along the rafters.
Malapert guessed that Xeonon would return through the doorway, and indeed that was the case, as he bellows into the oblivion and looks around with the same fervor as a child with a runaway pet. The temptation to jeer back at Xeonon's words is great, but Malapert has enough wit in him to recognize that being sneaky is more important right now.
As his words reverberate into nothingness here in the hangar, a new sound is generated. A rattling - accelerating clinks - as the bandelier belt gradually comes off-balance, slides down one side of the rafter, and falls toward the ground. (It would be cool if it were an ominous sound, but it doesn't last long enough to build much suspense) If Xeonon's gaze is drawn to the noise's source, he'll see the belt before it lands (EMP, blaster, and lightsaber all attached), dropping like a snake a few paces in front of and to the right of him. Malapert is not there, though. He is a second behind the belt, directly above Xeonon, honing his mental focus and pouncing towards him like a nocturnal predator, aimed to land right on top of that mop of artificial hair.
Malapert Piffle, drop bear.*
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Xeonon Solomon
The First Order
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Post by Xeonon Solomon on Dec 27, 2020 5:48:35 GMT -8
Why does no ever think to look up in these situations? Including himself. Hearing the noise of the belt clinking as it slid down and off the rafter Xeonon looked up towards the source of the disturbance and saw another object that would be landing within a few feet of him. It took him all of a moment to identify it and the things on it. A blaster, the smallest lightsaber he had ever seen and a grenade of sorts. Unaware the infamous Dropbear distraction technique Xeonon fell for it. Once the bandolier was within striking range he lashed out with his lightsaber. His main target being the lightsaber Xeonon cut through the leather holding everything in place as it stood (fell) vertical.
His lightsaber would only nick the tip of the barrel on the blaster, bisect the lightsaber. With the weight of everything thrown out of synch and no longer balanced the EMP grenade seemingly swiveled in the air as the top third of the cylindrical grenade, or maybe the bottom third (its hard to tell) met the same fate as the lightsaber. He did not have time to think about what it was doing up there or why everything seemed like it was fitted to the size of a small doll before something heavy and warm landed on the top of his head sending a jolt of kinetic energy through his spine. Something told him he was now a few inches shorter and would likely need to visit a chiropractor after this fight. Falling to the ground Xeonon lay flat on his back as something small, furry, and tangy touched his lips. If he had known what it was he may have vomitted on the spot.
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Post by Malapert Piffle on Dec 27, 2020 11:00:15 GMT -8
*Lightsaber, blaster, EMP grenade - all were completely at the mercy of Xeonon's masterstroke. Demonstrating the reflexes befitting a man who has survived mostly intact for so long, he struck without a second thought in a vertical cleave. First the holdout blaster, nose sawn off. Then Malapert's shoto, obliterated in a blink. Finally the EMP grenade, cut in two.
Unfortunate, though, that the energy supplied by the plasma blade of a lightsaber affords the same function as the ignition charge of the explosive device. Geometrically, it isn't as efficient when detonated this way, so the blast radius of the electromagnetic pulse is smaller. A minor issue. The semantics between 1 and 3 meters' worth of pulse radius is an argument much more relevant to a different situation than this one.
Ionizing radiation washes over Xeonon and Malapert both. They both immediately and perhaps unknowingly move up to the 'high risk' category for carcinogenesis due to the somatic effects of the broadband spectral pulse. Chronic impacts will be the need for annual doctor visits to incorporate invasive and uncomfortable medical screening for cancer in the foreseeable future thanks to this occupational exposure. But more acutely, systems relying on electrical circuits risk becoming impaired for the next few dozen seconds or so. It's unclear the extent to which this will impact Xeonon's equipment, but for Malapert, the point is largely moot. His lightsaber is already non-functional thanks to Xeonon's saberplay, and his blaster pistol is out of reach (but it is worth noting that the focusing coils of most blasters rely on electromagnets; without these functioning, any shots fired will de-phase rapidly).
For his part in all this, Malapert lands with all the grace of a slightly obese cat on top of Xeonon's head, who begins to buckle under Piffle's 7 kilograms of chonk.
Malapert Piffle, probably could stand to go on a diet?
The newly-rendezvoused duo start to fall, but on their way towards an unpleasant stop at ground floor, Malapert fixates on Xeonon in much the same way his distant relative Salacious Crumb did toward C-3PO. With a fiendish smile, he plunges his claw-tipped fingers towards both eye sockets, attempting to remove the brown bulbs from their homes in his skull. Whether successful at obtaining these fleshy marbles or not, Malapert is jostled off of Xeonon at the moment the armored man's back hits the floor. Not the cushiest of landings for either of them, to be sure, but at least Malapert had an old man's face between himself, his rump, and the ground.
Knocked a few feet away by the recoil, Malapert scuffles back to all fours and examines the fallout.*
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Xeonon Solomon
The First Order
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Post by Xeonon Solomon on Dec 27, 2020 11:53:37 GMT -8
Mostly intact was a very loose way of saying it. After all his right arm, both legs, and both his eyes were replaced with cybernetics. This was also ignoring the fact that under his suit of armour his body was covered with scars ranging from bullet holes, blaster shots, lightsaber strikes, and a surprisingly large amount of electrical shock scarring. You did not have to be the best duelist to win a fight, you simply had to out survive your opponent. You always have to be willing to sacrifice something to win a fight.
So when that EMP blast went off to say it was not ideal would be underselling it. Thankfully the way he had been standing saved one of his legs from shutdown. His arm, other leg and both eyes were less than lucky. Both seized as the cybernetics attempted to reboot. As he tumbled and the wash of literal cancer crackled over his body he did not feel the kitties claws until it was too late for his right eye. It was pulled out revealing the cybernetics inside that connected to his body and allowed him to see. He was able to save his one eye, but he would likely have a couple of new scars running below his eye should he get away from this beast.
Wearily Xeonon rolled onto his side and managed to take a knee facing the direction of the shuffling. As Xeonon reached out with the force trying to sense whatever or whomever fell onto him he was a bit surprised. It was something, if not a someone. It felt like a beast, something barely sentient yet there was still a spark in its mind. A small spark compared to other sentients but it was there. All he could sense about the creature was mischief. Even if this was just some wild beast that had gotten fat by eating herds of Wampas it would have to die. Allowing the force to guide his hand he whipped out his .48 caliber Enforcer Pistol and fired it directly at Malaperts center of mass. Silently he thanked the force that he had, had the foresight years ago to have a weapon that did not rely on electronics or else this monkey-lizard thing would probably eat him.
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Post by Malapert Piffle on Dec 29, 2020 11:19:04 GMT -8
*Hunter of wampa herds may be the greatest compliment ever afforded Malapert Piffle. Terrorizer of the wamp, yanker of ice-creature beards. Ahh, if only that were true.
In his observation of the aftermath, Malapert sees Xeonon roll himself over and begin rising to a knee. Solomon's arm is dangling limply and his down leg doesn't appear to be cooperating very well, either. And his one eye socket was a little rough for the wear; the trinket in Malapert's hand (which he places in his mouth after landing) testifies to that much. Yet it doesn't take a genius of Malapert's caliber to determine that things are far from over. A wounded beast is often more dangerous than a healthy one, and pranks are no fun when you get caught afterward and have to pay comeuppance.
A few feet away, where Malapert had landed, was plenty close enough to resume his personalized Xeonon makeover - at least, this was the thought as Xeonon was getting up. Xeonon's left hand reaches for a gun as Malapert is winding up for a leap, gnawing on copper micro-wiring as the eyeball dangles from his lips. His target? Xeonon's head, right side of the body. Consequently, Malapert is quite close and airborne when Xeonon takes his shot at the midsection of the little monster.
The shot fires, but with his target being above shoulder-height and across the body on the blind side from the oversize pistol, it misses low.
What cannot miss is the colossal muzzle report, pistol recoil, and resulting crater in the wall. Nor the deafening echoes, and the shock registering in Malapert's demeanor as realization sinks in surrounding the lethality of this little trinket. Lethality meant for him.
Beady little eyes stare daggers at his quarry. If Xeonon doesn't move, Piffle intends to land by catching his right hand and foot on an edge of the cuirass, and stabilizing by wrapping his prehensile tail around Xeonon's neck. Malapert had intended to carve up Xeonon's face a little more, but the fear of the gun and the annoyance of the tinnitus that has resulted distract him from that thought. Like a seagull whose snack has been stolen, Malapert tilts his head back and lets loose with a shrill scream in pale imitation of the gunshot, directly into Xeonon's ear, if he's found himself on the man's shoulder next to it.*
"aAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA--"
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Xeonon Solomon
The First Order
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Affiliation: First Order
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Post by Xeonon Solomon on Dec 30, 2020 5:38:20 GMT -8
One round down seven to go. As the massively oversized spent round ejected from the pistol he was not surprised that he had missed but it still sucked. Maybe if his eyes hadn't been turned and he could see things might have been different. There was no point and no time in crying over spilt spotchka. The diminutive creature was jumping towards him. He could move out of the way, try to keep the thing away from him. He figured it would be a minute or so until his limbs responded again, but a minute is a long time to dodge and weave when all you have to sense a creature is the force and hearing. It had been a long time since Xeonon had played dodgeball and he doubted he could dodge a wrench for as long as he could in his youth.
Instead as the monster jumped he would find himself landing squarely on Xeonons chest and for a moment he wished that his armour was that of the Pratoerians. Then he could have just shocked the little monkey and be done with it. Instead the prehensile tail snaked its way around his neck and before it could start strangling him he took in as big of breaths as he could.
Who needs hearing right?
While the scream as a decent imitation of the sound nothing beats the original. Knowing he could regret it Xeonon put the slugthrower directly at the base of Piffles neck and once again pulled the trigger. Whatever happened the screams of the monkey lizard would be drowned out compared to the sound of one of the loudest booms either of them have heard.
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Post by Malapert Piffle on Jan 7, 2021 7:30:09 GMT -8
"--AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
*Were it not for the fact that Malapert was perched on Xeonon's shoulder, the lifting of his gun arm would have gone completely unnoticed. He couldn't hear it, due to both the tinnitus-like effect from the gunshot and also the fact that he was screaming in Xeonon's ear. He couldn't see it, due to the fact that he was screaming in Xeonon's ear. But he feels it. The flexing of aged muscles cues Piffle in to the fact that he hadn't heard or seen the last of that gun. He registered it quickly, like a wild animal reacts to the rustling of leaves when a predator is nearby. It has scared him.
As the nose of the pistol swiftly approaches him from the right (Xeonon's front), Malapert's reaction is the same it always has been: act quick, or be dead. That time he legendarily made the Kowakian ape-lizard Fustian Rube's favorite sleeping branch break, but then Fustian spotted him from the jungle floor and threatened to rip him in half? Act quick, and escape the danger. That time he rigged the engines of New Republic officer Hage Kyrell's Y-Wing to explode, but got caught mid-way through by the R5-X6 astromech who tried to zap him? Act quick, and escape the danger. That time he stole an eyeball from Xeonon, but then Xeonon threatened to shoot him off of his shoulder like the world's bloodiest pinata? Act quick, and escape the danger.
Merely 'quick' was not going to cut it for Malapert. Perhaps even he did not register this fact on a conscious level; but subconsciously, innately, primally, the fear of the boom-stick on the end of that arm coming 'round the mountain drove his mind to the breaking point. And the great wellspring of power answered his unspoken request in his time of need.
All under the influence of Force Speed, Malapert moves. Raising his unoccupied right hand to the barrel of the pistol, he attempts to grab and push it away from his neck before the trigger is pulled, indiscriminately forward. Forward, for Malapert, happens to be towards Xeonon's body, but there's no aim or premeditated thought process involved in this motion. Just... anywhere not pointing at him. Or most of him. There's a reasonable chance that his tail gets blown to shreds.
Immediately thereafter, Piffle will fling himself over Xeonon's shoulder, freeing up his tail (if intact) and his left foot to do so, just using his left hand as the main anchor point. Left and right foot will be looking to find purchase on the back side of Xeonon's belt.*
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Xeonon Solomon
The First Order
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Affiliation: First Order
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Post by Xeonon Solomon on Jan 7, 2021 16:02:42 GMT -8
Xeonon did not have time to register much before the boom of the gun sounded reasonably close to his own face. Had his armour not been blood red already it would have been stained in monkey blood. Maybe if he won this he would take both paws off Piffle and use one of his six wishes to clean the armour of blood, both his and the monkey lizards. The other five? Well he would have to think on that after all you dont pay with money when you use a monkey paw.
Of course Xeonon did not think about any of this. Instead he knew he had indeed at least winged the beast as the taste of copper filled his mouth, what he did not know was how bad. If he did he would have wondered if there were prosthetics that could be used to replaced the damaged bit of tail he had taken off and whether they would need to remove the nub that remained or if it would be some sort of weird hybrid of metal and flesh tail. He should have hit the little beast in the head, it did not occur to him until this moment that it could use the force. Yet here it was having done just that. Even without its weapons it still posed a great threat.
Of course even crippled so did he. Or more accurately his armour did. Feeling the weight of the beast shift to his back Xeonon fell onto his back hoping to smother and crush Malapert beneath his own weight and that of his armour. Or at least maybe just pin him until his cybernetics started working again so he could get his hands on those paws.
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