Ask Opposition is Expected

[Maxims Tionson]

The operation, so far, was heading in the right direction but they needed to get something they hadn't had before and that was the support of the ruling class of Trandoshan elders. Unlike most elders throughout the Galaxy these ones weren't in charge solely because of their age and wisdom but because they could still whip the backside of any of the stupid younger ones as well.

Which meant they were actually only a few years older than Max himself in most cases come to think of it. He doubted they would hold that against him all things considered even if they didn't think that age accounted for wisdom in a one-to-one ratio.

Standing in the middle of the prepared area with his regular equipment at the ready, he idly twirled his lightsaber staff to stretch himself out a little bit ahead of the discussion that was to come. The fact that the Elders held talks and discussions in an arena really probably have said it all; if they didn't manage to convince the Elders to support the denouncement of the slavers as weak then they would need to convince them that they were stronger, that they had the Scores to be right no matter what they thought.

Honestly they wouldn't have even gotten to this point if their opinion wasn't, at least, a vocal minority amongst the ranks of the Elders and they would likely only be challenged by the staunchest of slaver-backers.

"Ready for some negotiations, Indy?"

@Killa Ree

 

[Indy Sati]

She still found it pretty funny that an 'Elder' Trando was only slightly older than Max. Not that she'd say much about it... but it was still ironic to her. She had taken off her jacket, revealing a plain-woven button up shirt over her usual armor, lightsaber clip attached to her belt and vibrowhip attached to her other hip. Her hat sat cocked over violet hair, but lips were cocked into a grim half-smile when she glanced over to her fellow knight, watching him warm up as well.

She had spent a few minutes stretching and limbering up; she felt remarkably calm and cool-headed, and when she glanced at Max again the smile was more genuine, golden eyes glittering with wry humor. "I'm ready for some talk, yeah. Just try not to break any hips," she winked, but the cheer soon vanished at the appearance of other figures, now approaching the empty space of their made arena.

She grounded herself, feeling peace settle in her bones. If this was the way to talk diplomacy with their leaders... perhaps it was time to speak their language, with a small twist of their own.

Score enough Points, and perhaps change could finally happen. Sounded simple, but even a thick-skulled student like herself knew the simple never worked out the way you wanted them too.

@Nefieslab

 

[Maxims Tionson]

Rolling his neck a little bit, Max released the cloak section of his armour to let it blow away. Not only was it just annoying in the wind of the open arena but it was also a touch of showmanship considering they were being watched... especially since it was a move he had been wanting to do for years. It was probably shown clearly on his face he but didn't much care - he was grinning like a loon at the fact that it got a reaction from those watching.

"Wanted to do that since I was a kid..."

Walking across the sands towards them were a pair of Trandoshans armed with blaster rifles and vibroswords. They hadn't really come to discuss anything had they? He still smiled a little bit and placed a hand on his hip where his saberstaff was resting. Typically the Trandoshans had issues with sabers...

"I trust you do not object to us using our sabers in this discussion." he called out to the elders, "Such esteemed members of the Trandoshan society shouldn't have any issues with them surely?"

They had issues with sabers but they had pride and their hated to be slighted or for it to be suggested that they were, in any perceived way, cowardly. One of the elders hissed angrily.

"You make keep your cowardsssss toyssss."

Max smiled and twirled his saberstaff in his hand idly.

"Gracious of you. Indy - read to these gentlemen our demands please?"

@Killa Ree

 

[Indy Sati]

She gave an eye roll at Max's blatant showing off, but the answering smirk said all he needed to know. Yeah, it was pretty cool, dramatic and cinematic in its' own way, and they weren't often allowed such luxuries. Instead she grinned wider at the snarling visages of the elders, pulling her own lightsaber hilt from its' clip. It remained inactive for now, but that could change with a simple flick of the thumb.

"No more enslaving Wookies," she stated bluntly with a grin, replied with by gaping, snarling maws. Sheesh, everybody was a critic. "Nor any other sentients, and in return we'll remain out of your affairs. Failure to do so," she addressed calmly, lighting up her lightsaber with a distinct hum and lowering to Makashi beginning stance, golden eyes calm, "will result in loss of Points."

"Aaand if we refusssse?" one of them hissed in return, vibroblade humming to life with a grisly grin on the Elder's features.

She shrugged. "Then we'll resort to diplomatic tactics."

She readied herself to strike, but it was the Trandoshan with the blaster that reacted first, the first shot not aimed at Indy's seemingly unguarded side, but towards Max's own neutral position with his saberstaff.

Guess that concluded negotiations.

@Nefieslab

 

[Maxims Tionson]

Ah Trandoshans - all honour and score up to a point and that point was when it stopped being in their best interests. He could honestly find some grudging respect for that if he tried hard enough. If their intentions were slightly less awful he might have managed it as well.

As it was he expected the blaster shot and prepared himself for it. The Force hummed through his veins as he moved his head, avoiding the blaster shot with what looked like contemptuous ease.

It was actually a rather draining use of the Force, to accelerate his perception like that but whatever.

Grinning, he rushed forward as the blaster-using Trandoshan charged to meet him, firing as it did. Igniting both ends of his saberstaff, he twirled it as he moved forward, knocking the blasts back upward into the sky away from him. Without really meaning to the Trandoshan halted it's charge and began backing up.

"Retreating so soon? Is your argument so weak?"

@Killa Ree

 

[Indy Sati]

It... he? hissed in response, resuming firing, but still backing off, not even deigning a reply in return to the grinning Jedi. Indy, however, had her own problem on her hands. The Trandoshan before her held the blade in both hands, whereas her own saber was a one-handed grip. She could see them eyeing her grip, her stance, and they began to circle.

She began to follow, also eyeing them up. Sand and dust stirred around them with the errant breeze, making it harder to focus on her opponent with the grittiness. Trust in the Force, she reminded, and began to ground herself by squaring her stance, settling her knees down more into the earth, and she saw their maw open, revealing rows of sharp, needle-like teeth.

When they lunged forward in a hard horizontal slash, the vibrosword hummed to life, meeting the lightsaber halfway. Sparks spat out, brushing past armor and plated skin. They leaned in, hissing rancid breath at her, and when she attempted to step back to disengage they leaned in, their height and weight at an advantage.

@Nefieslab

 

[Maxims Tionson]

Of course blocking blaster bolts was something that was drilled into Jedi from the stage of Padawan onward but even the most ingrained of behaviors and skills had a chance of not working quite as intended. If he was being honest with himself, part of the reason why he messed up was the Trandoshan's skill at firing against even a Jedi but the majority of it was that he got a little bit cocky. So instead of deflecting a blaster bolt just past his face it instead skimmed the left side of his face.

Wincing in pain, he was on the back foot for a second.

It spoke to the Trandoshan's skill that a second was all that he needed to be on the backfoot for another second and then another as the Trandoshan ignored the cooling system of his blaster beeping at him to pepper Max with shots. He was able to block them all but deflecting them in a useful manner was a pipe dream right now.

Hissing, the Trandoshan advanced before drawing a vibroknife in it's off hand and thrusting it at his ribs. Ducking away to the other side of the thrust, Max kicked out with his foot, kicking his opponent back a few steps and allowing his to adjust his grip and steady himself. He had learned well now to not underestimate his enemy.

@Killa Ree

 

[Indy Sati]

With the Trandoshan leaning into the lock and snarling in her face, Indy was left with one option.

Backtrack.

She lashed out a leg towards his own, and he stepped back to defend. She followed through with his defensive maneuver by pushing back her own blade, withdrawing to get some level of space. But when he hissed in triumph to close distance once more, she was ready. Blocking once more with the midguard, she thrust up and to the side, deflecting the humming blade away and shoving in to his torso space. It was now time for her opponent to backpedal, blocking her own lunge and countering it with a last-dash effort by twisting in an awkward deflective position.

Though she could enjoy the short victory for now, she couldn't defend for much longer before being at a distinct disadvantage.

@Nefieslab

 

[Maxims Tionson]

Max and his own opponent carefully circled one another, each eyeing the other like a wounded animal. Neither of them were actually wounded of course but to treat each other as though they were anything but their most dangerous would be an insult as well as a mistake.

With his saberstaff held in front of him in a horizontal guard, he eyed the Trandoshan for a moment. Steadying himself in the Force, he pulled it deep within himself but he waited. From the outside he looked so very peaceful, almost as though he were meditating.

This did exactly what he wanted it to do.

The Trandoshan snarled at the perceived lack of respect and pushed forward. As soon as the retilian man took a single step forward, Max exploded forward with speed of both the Force and his own body. Throwing himself forward into an enpowered corkskrew, spinning both himself and his lightsaber as he flew through the air.

Credit where it was due, the Trandoshan panicked in the right way, trying to side step the attack. Unfortunately for him the spinning blades were quicker. His blade carved up the front of the Trandoshan's torso, carving a deep gouge up from it's right thigh to left shoulder.

As the Trandoshan staggered backward, in pain but still alive and not crippled, Max used the chance to right himself, landing in a crouch that he turned into a small roll to assist in him standing once again.

"I will accept your surrender."

The Trandoshan screamed with enough force and rage that he was half convinced it would have classed as Force Scream.

"... duly noted."

@Killa Ree

 

[Indy Sati]

With her opponent in an awkward position and on the backpedal, she continued to press forward, giving a flurry of blows. Short, swift, single-hand strikes pushing forward, with the Elder hissing in irritation as he was forced to deflect.

They both registered the scream of the first blood being spilled, and her opponent made the mistake of glancing over for a quick moment.

She pressed forward again, lashing out with the Force to wrap their hands in a Stasis bond. He snarled in rage as muscles bunched in protest, jaw widening to snarl something at her. But she didn't stop to listen, instead lunging forward to release him from the bond a moment before her own strike, unable to both hold stasis and move to hit at the same time.

Her lightsaber met flesh, the acrid tang of burned scales and flesh reaching her nose before they roared out in return, the stump of his left arm raw and dripping. Yellow-green eyes burned with rage and anguish as they backpedaled again, but before she could strike they kicked up, a cloud of dust making her cry out and attempt to block it with her hand.

Hissing, they struck with their other arm, a slightly more awkward blow aimed towards her left ribs.

@Nefieslab

 

[Maxims Tionson]

Of course it wasn't going to be easy just because he had forced his opponent into a metaphorical corner because it was when they were concerned that Trandoshans were even more dangerous. This was evidenced by the way his enemy immediately charge forward after he'd landed his hit.

Max met the Trandoshan and immediately noticed that something had changed. The strikes were less skilled but they were markedly faster, stronger and with far more ferocity. He blocked high and low jabs with both blades of his saberstaff, unable to counterattack during the barrage because of how much the Trandoshan was piling on the pressure.

It was, from a purely technical standpoint, a terrible sword fight but the emotion, the passion and the intensity was there to make it up in spades. Honestly, Max wanted to make sure he got a copy of the holovid of this fight afterward because it was amazing to be in the moment and he imagined it would look even better when watching from the outside.

After a particularly swift set of jabs, the Trandoshan feinted and Max half-moved to intercept it before he recognized it as a fake-out and moved to protect himself again. This was why the Trandoshan's blade cut lightly into his upper left arm rather than cutting it off entirely, his own blade stopping it from digging in too deeply.

Max kicked up some sand into the eyes of the Trandoshan to back up, making some more room so he could better use his saberstaff's reach.

@Killa Ree

 

[Indy Sati]

She didn't have time to block fully; when they struck for her ribs she had to move fast, catching the tip of the vibrosword and stepping in to their personal space. The smallest edge of it caught along her ribs with the movement, and, pressing her free hand over their chest, gave a hard, sudden Force push, sending her opponent reeling back.

There was silence. If any residents watched, it was as still as a tomb. She panted heavily, feeling warmth trickle down her side, and readied her blade. The Elder slowly rose back up, but like her, his movements weren't as coordinated. Perhaps if she held out a little longer, she could subdue him.

But not for much longer. That cut meant she wouldn't be doing any overly fancy maneuvers any time soon.

@Nefieslab

 

[Maxims Tionson]

Max knew that if he was going to win this bout he would need to control the pace of it's ending. If he let the Trandoshan control it's pace then it would be faster than he could reliably keep up. And the difference between himself and his enemy was that he couldn't keep going after sustaining mild injuries without worry - he would slow and his enemy would not.

Which meant he needed to get ahead of the pace and do something that would be a death-blow on any other creature in the Galaxy but not one to a Trandoshan.

Honestly that wasn't all that hard - Trandoshans had a durability on par with the strongest of creatures and a regeneration that meant blows that were deadly to others could be survived without too much trouble. Reaching within himself and into the Force again, Max lurched forward in a jerky motion, a feint too tempting for the Trandoshan to pass up.

He tilted his head to one side at the last second, avoiding the thrust into his face and thrusting his own saber into, and through, the left lung of his opponent. With his opponent thoroughly run through, he grabbed it's head with his free hand.

"Yield or I twist the blade and you'll never walk again."

Threatening to kill the Trandoshan would have him seek an honourable death but threatening to sever his spine and leave him a cripple instead?

"... I yield."

@Killa Ree

 

[Indy Sati]

Like Max, it was time for aggression rather than playing back and forth. They snarled and readied as though to lunge, but she leaped ahead first, aiming an aggressive side feint. They switched to alternate and defend, but she switched hands, twisting to strike again, this time from the wounded side, and thus they engaged. Hard blows back and forth, her features calm, remote as she focused. Left, right, hard hits for the torso then alternating again. Keeping them on the backpedal.

And then another lock.

They leaned in between crossed blades, and she struck one last bargain. A blaster to the gut, her blade beneath theirs.

She leaned up as well, careful to keep her head out of cross-cut.

"Yield," she growled in response, jaw hard.

They glanced towards Max and the other Trando, before snarling in barely-constrained rage.

"..I yield," he also replied, stepping back and yanking his blade away in disgust. The blood had stemmed from his wound, and when he sheathed the blade he cupped the stump with a glower to the Jedi.

"Name your termsss, Jheddiii," he hissed, not even glancing to his companion. He barely even sustained any wounds! No missing limbs. They were not worthy predators for the term of Elder. Instead, he looked at Max, waiting the word. He was clearly the more competent of the two for gathering Points, though his opponent was not exactly a fresh nestling either.

@Nefieslab

 

[Maxims Tionson]

Max had had time to think about his terms here because he had always thought they were going to win.

It was nothing against the Trandoshans but they were never going to be able to stand against two Jedi Knights in single combat, not when their own pride had allowed them to keep their weapons. To Max it had never been a question of IF so much as a matter of WHEN. So when the yields came he extinguished his lightsaber blade and stepped away from his injured opponent.

He carefully didn't even bother to look at his opponent in a calculated display of coldness. It wasn't something a Jedi would do but it was something that a Trandoshan could respect since it was right out of their playbook. So was walking right up to the speaker and staring him right in the eyes.

The Trandoshan was bigger than him but at this moment he doubted anyone would be able to say that Max didn't command far more attention than the defeated elder.

"The Trandoshan people no longer sell wookiees into slavery."

It wasn't a question.

"They hunt for new prey, strong prey, and they may continue to combat the Wookiees of Kashyyyk. But they sell them no more."

There were no questions here because this was no longer a discussion. This was a victor laying his terms down onto the defeated with the backing of a high enough score, with traditions respected, and a recent victory over them as well. The Elder considered Max for a long moment.

"The Elder council will heed you. No official raidsss will be conducted, no ssslavers aided. We ssshall raid for combat againssst the Wookieesss and new prey. For ssso long as thisss Elder Council reignsss."

Which put a timer on it.

As soon as the current council stepped aside, which would be in a few years, the agreement would be void. Max thought on the wording of the agreement, searching for loopholes. They planet as a whole would no longer support slave raiding their neighbours but it was left open that individuals may and they would be responsible for their own actions. Individuals, however, were much easier to deal with than an entire culture.

And in the years when it was outlawed, officially, new prey would hopefully be found that made the people more likely to be uninterested when it did come back. But...

"And when the new council convenes - we'll be back to discuss this again."

The Trandoshan grinned and it was an odd sight but there was genuine amusement in it, he could sense.

"We will welcome you back, huntersss."

@Killa Ree

 

[Indy Sati]

Such weird folks, these lizard guys.

Far better be it Max be the voice of reason between the two of them; the old man had more experience dealing with diplomatics. She could do it for a time, but it was far less her style. She was a teacher, and an archeologist true, but most of her job dealt with the past. Future?

That was far more worthy men and women.

She flicked off and tucked away her lightsaber, tilting her head to the pair of Elders. "Until next time then," she affirmed, then winked at Max, turning away.

She could think about all the aches and pains later. But it wasn't the worst fight she'd been in.

Well... not yet, anyways.

//Exit Thread

@Nefieslab