Open Invasion Lightning Strike

[Dalair Solus]

Dalair's left hand missed his repulsor control since his right arm was abruptly shoved to the side, his body twisting to follow the arm and keep balance. Suddenly free from the debilitating sorcery but now facing down the thrown shoto directly, he leaned rightward with the shove's momentum, nearly dodging the throw- but the tip of the spinning shoto still struck his shoulder, burning through the muscle. Naturally, he dropped the Python.

Growling, Dalair would straighten up, quickly standing and forcing his right arm to move and draw his bes'kad. The Jedi was moving closer, and even if he was down an arm he'd continue to fight. The armorer was ready, keeping his eyes on her approach, burying the pain of his injury as deep as he could.

@Orbit @Nefieslab @Lilith

 

[Nox Solus]

The first two bolts were blocked but the third at least struck true, disabling the sorcerer's arm for a bit. The rocket on his wrist afterward was fired and to his disbelief had been seized immediately. Thankfully, the rocket fizzled out and shot wide instead of exploding in his face. Nox was learning more about these Jedi with each battle and his hatred of their invisible energy grew as well.

Instead of watching it fizzle out, the Alor acted immediately. As Dalair placed fire on the other Knight, Nox holstered his warming blaster pistol and activate his jetpack quickly. With him facing toward Crix, it would result in him ascending up the slight hill and quicker than the stairs or climbing. The ground would be three meters below him and when he first took off, he swung his slung carbine around to the front, squeezing off a stun bolt after a flick of his thumb.

When he reached about halfway, another stun bolt would be let loose from his light carbine and at Crix's stomach. The Mandalorian was aware of their ways and was ready to adjust on the fly if need be. Nox would land smoothly on the same plane as Crix when he reached the top, the entire action taking relatively a few moments of time to get him into a new position and leaving him ready to react to a counter if there was one, about 8 meters between him and Crix.

The carbine would be aimed in both Crix and Emilia's general direction with just his left hand, able to see her back as she pressed Dalair. Nox would be more outside on Crix's right shoulder as well too. Upon landing he fire off another stun bolt, aimed for Emilia's spine as she went down the stairs, the distance near 10 meters and coming from behind.

@Nefieslab @Lilith @Mr. Teatime

 

[Emilia Vuth]

Seeing Crix's blade cut through the mandalorian, Emilia did not wait to get shot at. Not that she'd dealt with being shot at much so far, for some reason. Maybe because she was small they thought she was a lesser threat. Either way, it didn't matter. After the blade cut through the mandalorian's shoulder, Emilia had no reason to keep holding onto his arm.

Instead, she let go of his arm and grabbed the spinning lightsaber, turning it abruptly back onto the mandalorian after it'd cut through his shoulder. It'd spin behind him out of his sight while he dropped his Python, and cut through the right side of his upper back if it landed. Which would cut through the man's spine, and such a wound would put him on the ground even if the blade didn't go completely through him.

Emilia kept moving quickly down the stairs on an angle which would help her avoid shots fired at her, and would also bring her closer to the other mandalorian. She wanted him to see her advancing on him, with her lightsaber in her hand on guard for any oncoming shots. She was not going to relent on the man. Not when she had nothing coming at her, and while the other mandalorian was jetting up the stairwell and busy with her partner.

Nox's shot at her after he jet packed up the stairwell would speed past her, miss, and hit the ground if it went off. Her back would not be turned towards him as she moved quickly across the stairwell.

@Orbit @Mr. Teatime @Nefieslab

 

[Crix Aran]

It took a lot to be able to surprise a Mandalorian but having his wrist rocket fizzle out like that was probably going to do the trick - Crix was a bit confused it didn't explode but he chalked it up to lack of understanding on the mechanics of the rocket. He was a droid technician after all, not a rocket scientist. With his lightsaber returned to operation, Crix turned in place to keep Nox in front of him, trusting Emilia to keep the other busy.

Jetpacking Mandalorian... he knew he was going to be jealous of the jetpack before the end of the day.

As soon as he saw Nox activate his jetpack, Crix acted - rushing to close the distance even as Nox would rocket to do the same, but also working with the Force. While Nox was unslinging his carbine, Crix used the Force to suddenly wrap the man's red cloak around his helmet tightly, blocking off his line of sight and pulling his head back as he was coming to fire. He would still block the first shot aimed at his stomach with a horizontal slash of his blade from his left to right, before he leapt.

Although he wasn't terribly tall, Crix didn't have to jump overly high to be within reach of his target. In a reversal of his defensive slash, Crix would slash from back from his right to his left, aiming to cut clean through Nox's legs between the knees and ankles as he rocketed forward, blinded by his cape. He knew that Mandalorian helmets often had vision modes but they required manually switching them over.

If his attack connected or not, Crix would land and immediately back up as well as bring his lightsaber back into a defensive position in front of him as he prepared for a second assault at much closer range.

@Lilith
@Orbit @Mr. Teatime

 

[Dalair Solus]

Dalair saw the Jedi sorceress' hand movement and heard the spinning shoto buzz through the air after it struck his left shoulder, a burst of adrenaline focusing senses and instinct through pain. Already leaning over, he scrambled to slide his right leg left, pushing off with his planted left, activating a jetpack burst low to the ground to rapidly move right and back, feet skidding along the ground. Rather than Emilia's intended target, the shoto would give a simple graze to the outside of his bicep, the tip of the blade striking before flying past the drifting Mandalorian and into the stairs, arm weakly flinching away.

Mid-motion he snatched up his sling-hanging carbine again, snarling as he swung it forward, quickly letting off two shots toward Emilia's legs and chest as he angled right and back, jetpack swiftly lifting him off the ground to a 'standing' position while he flew. Dalair's controlled backward motion would rapidly gain him extra distance between him and Emilia, landing him in a short slide to his feet. His injured shoulder jostled painfully, at which point he also noticed he couldn't move his arm well enough to draw a second weapon, hissing when he tried to force it.

The injury burned badly, smoke trailing from the cut with the smell of burnt flesh and metal, the limb tingly and hot. The most he could do was curl the arm toward his body, fighting through the pain with grit teeth and rapid breaths.

@Orbit @Lilith @Nefieslab

 

[Nox Solus]

With Nox unslinging his carbine right when he took off, the scarf pretty much wrapped around the Mandalorian's head upon his feet leaving the ground, trying to leave him blind. The Alor was experienced enough with combat and with his jetpack to know not to freak out, expecting the next move for the Jedi being to close the distance after. With his head pulled back from the scarf, he resisted by pushing it the opposite way instantly, leaving it in place.

He wouldn't be fast enough to yank the whole scarf down but he didn't need thermal vision to see the bright blue plasma blade coming at him. By the time his eyes locked on, he could see Crix's lightsaber soaring through the air and getting closer at him. With his right hand, he'd still partially pull the scarf down to remove a couple of layers and make the lightsaber easier to locate the outline of the Jedi.

Seeing how it was aimed, Nox with his right hand still holding a deactivated lightsaber, swung instinctively and activated a white blade once it left his face, a short distance and catching Crix's right before it struck his shins but he wasn't fast enough. The Jedi's lightsaber would still strike the outside of his left shin and cut cleanly through, his left foot and everything below the blade dropping from the sky. The Jedi's blade would strike the inside of his right shin as well and start to burn into his flesh slightly deeper before it was stopped by Nox's own blade and leaving a nasty burn. With the angle and their blades bound, it would also prevent the blade from being dragged up vertically and to his crotch if his counter didn't work.

As a result of this, however, it would leave the sorcerer right in front of the barrel of his carbine. With no hesitation from Nox, two bolts were fired at point-blank range the moment his first leg began to be cut through. They would practically smack into him instantly with no obstacles in between them. Being in the air with him, his right arm disabled, and the little distance between the two, and the Alor's lightsaber as an obstacle with the committed strike, there would be little that could be done to counter. The two bolts would be aimed directly for the center of his chest and hit right after the other, disabling his entire body and immediately dropping to the ground if it connected. The blade would also be stopped from cutting off his other foot as it dropped.

Whether it worked or didn't, Nox would push the Jedi's blade away after and continue to land in the area he wanted but struck the wall hard enough to dent his metal arm and have him slide to the ground. He would peel the scarf down with his left hand, allowing him to see with his lightsaber at the ready.

@Nefieslab @Lilith @Mr. Teatime

 

[Emilia Vuth]

Emilia was almost surprised to see Crix's shoto do—even more—damage to the mandalorian. Mostly because she was aware of the mandalorian's reputation of being great warriors. Still, the graze was a graze, and it would effect the mandalorian along with the terrible burn on his now useless arm.

But the mandalorian did dodge the blunt of the shoto.

That did not mean Emilia lost grip on the shoto, however. Her grip was already established.

The small sephi maintained her control on Crix's blade, guiding it to follow the mandalorian. While originally the spinning blade was not as fast as a jet-packing mandalorian, Emilia did not have much to distract her. She was able to put a large amount of her concentration into her control of the shoto, to increase the speed. So when the mandalorian fired at her, Emilia made sure that the lightsaber kept moving towards him.

She blocked the first shot sent towards her with an angled slash, at the same time the shoto would catch up with the mandalorian. The shoto's blade would cut through the mandalorian's mid torso if nothing got in the way, while he was in the middle of firing his second shot at her.

As the second shot came towards her, Emilia slashed to the side with her blade to block it. With nothing else fired at her, Emilia continued her advance on the mandalorian, despite the distance he put between them. Still on guard with her lightsaber.

@Orbit @Mr. Teatime @Nefieslab

 

[Crix Aran]

The scarf wrapped around the Mandalorian's bucket perfectly - leaving him in a position to take advantage. It wasn't honourable combat but battle rarely was.

As Nox was tugging it down, Crix didn't need to continue the Force act on the fabric as it was only ever meant as a momentary distraction and disorientation technique. Cursing aloud as the Mandalorian pivoted in the air to bring his stolen lightsaber down to intercept his own attack, he saw the carbine moving in a direction he didn't like at all.

Using the Force available to him to perform a quick, simple but powerful Pull on Nox's left side, he would force the entire left side of the unsuspecting Mandalorian's body forward and to the right, pulling his entire arm away from where Nox had been aiming. The intention was to Pull Nox off course badly enough that he wouldn't be able to fire at Crix at all.

The reality was somewhere in between as the two warriors all-but collided with each other as their attacks were landing.

He felt the first shot hit across the front of his chest and armour as the two of them spun out of control, the second firing off into the air. His own attack was unable to be pressed due to the very real danger of slashing himself up in the confusion.

Crix landed awkwardly to the right of Nox, his own right side slamming into the stone railing. As the arm was still stunned and he was beginning to lose some sensation in his chest, he had no way to brace himself.

There was a snap loud enough that even Emilia and Dalair would be able to hear it and even through the stun effect Crix felt it as his elbow shattered against the stone and his ribs were given a thorough bruising that took his breath away. Gritting his teeth, he could feel his vision dim slightly from the pain before he pushed himself to take a half-step away from the partially crumbled railing.

Standing on unsteady feet, his blade hovered in front of him, the tip of his blade barely an inch from Nox's breastplate right beside Nox's own lightsaber as it pressed almost against his own chest. Blue stood side-by-side with white as the owners of the blades stared at each other. He could taste static in his lungs and up his throat and he didn't even know how he could actually describe the feeling aside from that.

"Luubid..." he breathed out in Mando'a, his voice rough and almost wheezing, "Enough Mando... another day. Another day..."

It hurt to even talk but Crix would thrust his blade through Nox's heart if he needed to - but it would likely be the last thing he ever did. A stalemate, a mutual death over a planet that wanted neither of them? No... enough was enough.

 

[Nox Solus]

The Jedi's lightsaber would still cleanly take his left shin but not freely. The first stun bolt struck Crix right into the chest, his entire body jolted for a moment but the second one flew over harmlessly with the pull. There really wouldn't be any more time to do anything else as the two collided into each other harshly mid-air and tried to prevent their sabers from chopping each other into pieces.

With the hit, both of their paths were altered as they immediately went to the ground. Nox would slam right into the railing beside Crix, thankfully able to brace somewhat compared to the Jedi and the armor helping out as well. Still, it left a nasty bruise on his arm and knocked the wind out of him momentarily. The Solus didn't move from the railing, instead, he placed his right arm on top of it to use as a support as he stood on his one leg and breathed heavily. Nox was drenched in sweat underneath and his vision blurred slightly but adrenaline, training, and experience still kept him moving.

The Alor turned slightly just in time to see the sorcerer's blade come to his chest, his own lightsaber coming fourth and slipping underneath the blue one but not fast enough to deflect it. The two blades would remain connected as it was obvious his own weapon wouldn't be able to stop the pierce but Crix would be able to see the Mandalorian's carbine still pointed straight at him and towards his chest, the stun setting having been switched back to lethal as the two stared at each other.

Silence fell between them for brief moments as they stared at each other, both able to realize they had checkmated each other. Finally, the sorcerer broke the silence, first speaking in the Mando's tongue before switching to basic and telling him another day. At first, Nox didn't respond, Crix unable to see him gritting his teeth underneath his helmet as the fire that burned within him told him to press on. The Jedi would hear the sound of the Solus' glove tightening but his trigger finger still remained iron still as he debated within himself.

Nox's eyes would take a quick scan of the battlefield given his angle, able to see both the dead Solus and guards that were on the ground. Little progress had been made toward the manor as well as the pain from his leg became more apparent with each second. Bringing his gaze back to Crix, another brief moment would pass before he gave a slight nod, "If only it... extends to the rest... Luubid," Half basic and half Mando'a with the word repeated. With the white blade, he would slowly push the blue one away but to destroy the idea of this being a threat, the carbine would be lowered at the same time.

His gaze not leaving the Jedi, he would touch a piece of his vambrace, connecting to the comms of the fellow Solus in the area as he spoke in Mando'a with a gruff voice, "Withdraw." As the battle slowed, two Solus would flank Nox but wouldn't touch Crix. The Alor would simply push off the railing with a grunt as he offered one final glance to Crix before he activated his jetpack and took off to the sky. A few would take off with him immediately while others waited for a moment, staring at the guards before they started to take their leave as well one by one to fight another day.

@Mr. Teatime @Nefieslab @Lilith