Dueling Sith

[LadyM]

I arrived to the temple on Coruscant to step into the dueling ring for the first time since being admitted to the Sith Imperium. My Master had taught me about the Force, the Dark Side, and the nature of Sith Sorcery. She had told me that such knowledge could save my life and make me powerful but the one thing that truly defines a Sith is not just only their command of the Force and the Dark side, but their ability to use the lightsaber in combat, and learn to mingle that with their Force powers.

So I put out the feelers for anyone to square off with me in the ring and it was a Crusader that had answered the call.

I entered the ring and found that my opponent had not yet arrived. I dropped to my knees, my lightsaber out in front of me, and began meditating on the upcoming events. I needed my base emotions to lend me their aid and power. So one by one I began to fill my passions with anger, hatred, pain, and suffering. Would this be enough, only time would tell.

During my meditation trance, I began to feel another's presence closing in on the ring and though I could barely gauge the strength of others, something I've been working on at the request of my Master, I knew this figure had to be the Crusader.

I opened my eyes, grabbed my lightsaber hilt, and rose to my full height. And waited.

 

[Radiwalker]

Vindict, being a gladiator, was one who never ceased to look for opportunities to fight and prove himself in combat. It wasn't something he had chosen to become, it was something that was built into him, ingrained in his mind, the need to prove himself over and over again, until he is the last man standing, until he is victorious, until his chains are broken, until the Force sets him free.

This time his opponent was to be a dathomirian girl, who was slightly younger than him. He had not made her acquaintance, but he had seen her request for a dueling opponent and he had answered the call, as his virtues commanded. He had never fought a female before, or at least not one on one, which he thought would be a new and rather challenging experience, as women, in his opinion, were superior to men in terms of tactics. Something that he valued highly.

The duel was to take place in one of the dueling arenas in the temple on Coruscant, a temple which Vindict rarely visited, not because he didn't like it, but because he preferred the deserts of Korriban, which reminded him of Zygerria and the gladiatorial arena, where he had spent the first sixteen years of his life. Even though he was a slave there, it felt like a kind of a home to him and the resemblance between Korriban and Zygeria was enough to have him stick around.

As he approached the arena, the crusader could feel a presence already inside. He suspected it to be his opponent. A sinister smile crossed his face as he removed his hood and summoned his curved lightsaber to his hand. Two other lightsaber hilts remained on his belt, one seemed to have been broken, while the other seemed to be of a double-bladed lightsaber.

The gladiator stepped into the arena, pushing the button on his lightsaber. The orange blade streamed out of the hilt and pierced through the air. He brought the weapon in front of himself, gripping it with both hands, his synthetic fingers wrapping tightly around the hilt, as he undertook the ataru opening stance. "Greetings." his voice was deep and resonant. "Shall we begin?"

Vindict made another small step forward, not in an attacking motion, but so he would get closer to his to be opponent and get a better look at her. Pale white skin and grey-ishly blue eyes, she wasn't much different from a human. Her body was tattooed and the tat appeared to be some sort of patter, which inclined the sith to believe that she had been a part of a tribe. She didn't seem too big, so he deducted she was fairly agile and would rely on that in the upcoming battle, much like himself. Even so, it was too early to judge her, or her skills... only her performance could truly unravel those.

 

[LadyM]

I examined my opponent when he entered the ring, something that had been drilled into my skull by my Master. When he activated his blade, I followed suit then added, "And greetings to you, Crusader." I was ready and I moved into the Makashi form when he stepped closer. I noted he did not use this gesture as a front for attacking me but to better observe who he was fighting. I saw the sparkle in his eye and new my appearance appealed to him.

I smiled once, twirled my blade around in my left hand and lunged in quickly, sweeping my blade from left to right in an attempt to drive him back or force him too parry or block my attack. If I was able to drive him back, I would spin around quickly, adding more power to my slash and bring the blade up high toward his left shoulder causing him to address that attack.

If my opponent decided to parry or block my first incoming attack, I would move into a defensive position to gauge his skill and ability, waiting for his counter strikes. The duel had begun and the last of the flutters in my stomach gave way to determination and confidence.

 

[Radiwalker]

As the attack came, quick though it was, Vindict stood his ground and moved his own weapon to counter the incoming one. The blades locked and the crusader quickly applied pressure. He didn't want to counterattack, not before he had had the opportunity to test his opponent and evaluate her strong and weak sides. The first part of said test was strength. He wanted to see whether she could overpower him, or her visible features had not deceived his eye and he was in fact stronger, or at the very least her equal in strength.

Many other sith would rush in and attempt to drive their opponent into a corner. Vindict too exhibited that tactic, but only when he was fighting someone familiar, someone whom he had studied, or someone whom he knew to be fearsome. On the other hand, when fighting someone he knew nothing about, he preferred to risk allowing his opponent the upper hand at the start of the duel, so long as he was able to observe and evaluate said opponent.

 

[LadyM]

The moment our blades locked I knew that in terms of strength I was his inferior but what I lacked in strength I made up in other areas. Normally I would observe my opponent just as my Master had taught me but I needed to prove myself and since I asked for a duel, it made me the aggressor. So as I felt him applying pressure to the saber lock, I stepped by quickly breaking the hold and again attacked with more precision and more finesse.

I moved my feet in tune with my body and as I struck, I leaned in with my left foot first as my blade cut across in a downward motion starting from the top of his right shoulder and going down in a diagonal motion. I was under the impression he could defend against that in many ways but I was still observing him and trying to avoid disarmament at the same time.

 

[Radiwalker]

The Force, it seemed, was not to be used, or at least not yet, but Vindict was fine with that. His previous suspicions were confirmed as his opponent retreated from the blade lock. She, however, didn't seem to be too keen on backing down. As she came on the attack a second time, the crusader got low, by placing his left foot in front of his right and dropping his right knee towards the ground. At the same time he he pushed his saber upwards, blocking the oncoming strike.

He was in a position in which he could defend against someone who was much stronger than him, but he could not perform a solid counterattack. That was good, as he didn't want to counterattack, not yet anyway, he had still seen to little of his opponent and didn't know what to expect from her. Vindict applied pressure and attempted to push his opponent's blade upwards, thus repelling it and forcing a stop to the attack.

 

[LadyM]

I felt the Crusader, with his right knee toward the ground, begin to push our blades up. I began to allow the Force to swell inside me and when it finally reached its boiling pointe, I moved to another set of attacks.

I used the Force to pull my opponent's left leg forward trying to throw him off balance as I pulled my blade off his, granting me movement with it. If my opponent was unable to right his ship, I would lunge my blade, pointe first, toward his chest as he was falling forward, forcing him to parry the blade or knock it away to avoid being pierced in the chest.

If my opponent was able to save his balance, I would step to his left, bringing my blade down across his left arm forcing him to either roll away or bring his blade up to parry the quick downward slash.

 

[Radiwalker]

Vindict was caught off guard with the pull on his leg and easily lost his balance. Nevertheless he was quick to react, releasing a Force push towards his opponent, hoping to, at the very least throw her off balance, while he struggled to get a better position. With the waving of his hand that released the push, as well as his other hand, he managed to control his fall and fall to the side instead, which then allowed him to perform a diagonal backwards roll and quickly get back up on his feet, whilst creating some distance between himself and his opponent.

Those actions would, essentially restart the fight, but now Vindict had a better understanding of who he was fighting. The girl used her speed and agility well, she performed quick attacks and combined her skills with the blade with her Force abilities. She had good leg work and proper strategic thinking. Now, however, the crusader was about to pick his pace up as well. The game was on.

 

[LadyM]

I felt the push through the Force that caused me to stumble backwards, my lightsaber missing any chance to score a hit, as I was forced to handspring backwards to regain my balance. I had allowed myself to be open against a Force attack from the Crusader, which cost me the offensive advantage.

My eyes caught a fleeting glimpse of his roll and watched with dissatisfaction in myself as he rose to his feet, ready and prepared. I, unlike the Crusader, did not have the advantage of using the Force at will. My Force energy was limited in comparison to his, so I would have to tread carefully during this duel less I wish to lose due to Force exhaustion. So it was time to change tactics and use my energy sparingly.

I began to step backwards at an angle, stepping with my left foot over my right foot then dragging my right foot back and repeating the process until some yards were between us. I kept my eye on him and waited for him to make the next move. I didn't want to tip my hand to much or expose my skills to him, giving him another advantage over me by observing my actions and abilities.

 

[Radiwalker]

The girl seemed to take on a defensive stance for the restart of the duel. Vindict smirked in response. She had probably figured out what he was doing, but what she didn't know was that he had just decided to change his style. It was time for him to take up the offensive. He began channeling force energies through his body and started walking towards his opponent.

In a few seconds his walk turned into a run, bringing him closer and closer to the girl, until finally, the gladiator was within striking range. At that point he performed a slashing downward diagonal strike from his right to his left, with his right foot stepping in towards the girl. Before the slash ended he used the motion of the attack to move his weight forwards and perform a spin on his front right leg, while using his left one to perform a kick at the girl's head. Upon finishing that attack he would be prepared to defend himself, or attack again, if no counter came.