The Jedi and The Mask

[Aaron Corinth]

A neutral party was hosting a dueling tournament boasting to have included sith and jedi. Damion had to take the opportunity and volunteered almost immediately. He had arrived at the heavily armed station and was placed in a rather standard dueling ring. It was entirely smooth sided metal in a circular fashion with metal top and floor. Stands had been erected on one side atop the circular wall where a small group was seated watching the proceedings. Rather than fight with his anticipation, he sat. He focused on the force and his inner self drawing energy into him.

He had not been told who his opponent would be, but he hoped he would get to face a jedi. He had heard of their valor and fierceness in battle and Damion wished to witness it himself. He was nearly giddy as the opposite door wooshed open revealing blackness beyond. It was time, his opponent was coming. Jedi or sith Damion was prepared. He stood, drawing a single lightsaber hilt to his hand. He watched the opening carefully for whatever was to come.

 

[Kaane]

Hrassk twirled his former Master's lightsaber nervously with one hand, tugging at his robes with the other, standing just behind the door that would soon open to reveal the arena before him. He had heard of some sort of tournament where Sith and Jedi bouts would be featured among the usual repertoire of fighters beating eachother senseless, and he was immediately interested; his dueling skills weren't the best in the world, and he saw this as an opportunity to learn how to fight one on one without getting killed in the process. Well, at least he wanted to believe that; you never knew what could happen with these underground dueling rings. But one thing was for sure, he had to at least put up a good fight.

Then, the door opened; he shuddered and took a few deep breaths to calm himself, staring out into the arena, more specifically, at the fighter he would be facing. He could tell the other fighter was a Sith...a rather intimidating one too, garbed in black with a mask concealing his face. But he couldn't let that get to him; otherwise the battle would be lost before it even began. No, he wouldn't let that happen. He would bring this Sith to his knees and have him beg for mercy.

Though a part of him wanted to be scared stiff, his confident and prideful side showed as he walked into the ring; he ignited his lightsaber, twirling the bright green blade around his body like a baton as he tried to make himself seem more cocky than he really was. He smiled at the Sith before him as he finished his small show, yelling "C'mon!" as he let his robes drop on the ground, revealing the comfortable, black thermal suit he wore underneath. "Show me what makes you so powerful!"

 

[Aaron Corinth]

His opponent entered through the door, it appeared to be a trandoshan wielding a green lightsaber. He said nothing as the beast entered. He appeared to be thinner than other trandoshans he had seen. He would soon see if the beast could match his dueling style. The beast waved the lightsaber side to side expending precious energy and attempting to show off. The crowd on the other end of the circular arena certainly enjoyed it as he heard exclamations towards the jedi and boos directed at him. The jedi taunted him to begin and begin it would.

Damion shucked his cloak as well revealing the thick sith armor he wore and the various blades that had been hidden under the garment. He ignited the blade with a snap-hiss and crimson leaped from the end. He would show this jedi what it meant to face a sith. With the assistance of the force, he reached the incoming trandoshan in seconds, swinging his blade towards the left side of the beast's midsection. However, right before contact, he pivoted sending the blade the opposite direction and slicing down towards the jedi's right hip. The attacks were powerful following the mantra of Form V and quick because of his constant use and aid from the force. The jedi did not quite understand what he had signed up for.

 

[Kaane]

Oh lovely...he thought to himself as his opponent revealed his armor. Well...he did ask for it. He quickly entered the Soresu brace-ready stance, holding his saber vertically to his left, as the masked Sith rushed at him with surprising speed, which he was completely unready for. In those few seconds, his mind reeled with a hundred different thoughts, preparing for the powerful onslaught that was about to come. Though his face was still beaming in a cocky smile, on the inside, he was praying that his defensive fighting style would keep him from getting hurt too badly.

Seeing the oncoming attack, he angled his lightsaber for what he expected to be an easy block, but was caught by surprise when the Sith suddenly pivoted on his feet, sending his saber to his right instead of his left. He stumbled away from the feinted attack, conserving as much movement as possible as he twisted his saber to meet the Sith's as he kept retreating and attempting to disengage for the moment, berating himself for not seeing that coming. With the first step back he took, he knew exactly where the match would go, and he definitely didn't want to end up in the situation he foresaw. He would have to remain calm and think of something. But he knew that the man before him wouldn't give him that chance. He cursed under his breath and prepared his brace-ready stance once more, managing another smile as he said "is that all you've got?"

 

[Aaron Corinth]

The look on the jedi's face was all Damion needed to continue the onslaught. The speech was almost just as effective. Rather than attempting another feint he judged he would test the strength of his opponent. He swung the lightsaber high and downward towards the jedi's head utilizing one of the most powerful blows in his arsenal, the Falling Avalanche. It was a pure power move and if the jedi could not overcome the force of his muscles as well as the force and angle, it would be best to avoid the saber altogether if possible.

The downward angle after the attack was almost instantly redirected into another diagonal blow, headed upwards this time, from the right hip towards the left shoulder. Following the attack, he stepped back, relenting for but a moment. He waved for the jedi to attack, his mask giving away nothing of his intentions.

 

[Kaane]

The Sith seemed to respond to his taunt with vigor, coming at him with perhaps the most powerful downward slash Hrassk had ever seen. He didn't seem angry, not yet anyways, but the Sith was definitely confident in his abilities to use such a relatively slow attack early on. It would be folly to block it completely; he had little raw power in his small body, and the blow would break a wrist or two, at the best. But at the same time, he knew he needed to make a stand rather than run away yet again.

He compromised; he strafed to the Sith's left side just as he began to bring the crimson saber down and swung at his blade with a one-handed (using his right arm), vertical slice, aiming to redirect the incredible momentum of the blow rather than stop it. His other hand rested on his belt, ready to draw his second saber at a moment's notice. If the deflection proved successful, he would then attempt a counterattack; a quick, half-hearted one, as he was focused on surviving at this point rather than winning. He let his saber bounce back from the deflection and made a quick, somewhat sloppy half-horizontal slice-half-jab at the left side of his opponent's torso. He would then try to disengage again, still searching for a weakness he could somehow exploit.

 

[Aaron Corinth]

The jedi had managed to knock his blade off course as it continued downward and the beast had even tried to counter. Damion's second blade leaped to his hand and met the incoming blade as the first came to a screeching halt. He could see the analysis going on in the jedi's head, trying to find a weakness and he would not have one. He had been bested and tied far too many times to allow this pathetic jedi to even hold his own against him.

He attacked, pushing his offensive. He swung his blades with strength and precision. He swung the left blade laterally straight towards the jedi's head, maintaining the right back as defense. He followed the attack up with a sharp stabbing motion from the right drawing the left back to defend. The last blow before stepping back was an attempted incapacitating blow with the right saber aimed for the jedi's right hand and a second from the left saber aimed for the jedi's legs.

 

[Kaane]

Hrassk drew his second saber and ignited its bright orange blade as soon as the Sith drew his, almost losing his nerve; he had dueled before against opponents with single sabers, but never against one with two. He seriously considering surrendering at this point, but he wouldn't go out without a fight. He could quit whenever he wanted to. Though he would prefer to have all of his limbs intact when he did.

He blocked the first blow vertically with his right hand saber easily, but the second, quicker strike gave him trouble. He moved his right leg behind him, turning his body to make less of a target to hit as his left hand saber batted away the attack. Then, he attacked with both blades at once, one at his hand, which he managed to deflect, and the other at his legs, which he was less lucky in doing; he couldn't move his right handed saber fast enough to deflect the blow, and the blade left a small, burning gash in his thigh as he moved his left leg stepped back, making him yelp and stumble before steadying himself as the Sith stepped back, holding his sabers in a desperate guard. It would soon be over unless he managed to do something miraculous.

 

[Aaron Corinth]

A smile crept across his face under the mask as the smell of burning flesh reached the air. The blade had nicked the poor jedi on one of the thighs. The jedi had ignited his second saber as well. This could be fun after all, Damion thought cocking his head as he looked at the orange blade which in no way matched the green of the opposite blade. He watched the man put up a guard, a desperate guard to block his incoming strikes. The man was waiting and Damion would happily oblige. He hadn't had this much fun in quite some time.

Rather than a direct on strike, Damion rolled to the right bringing his left saber towards the jedi's leg, while keeping the right above his head to block a counter attack. He regained his footing sending a violent fencing style jab at the jedi's left shoulder to bring him closer. He followed the attack by placing his foot behind the jedi and giving him a shove assisted with the force he hoped to send the jedi sprawling onto the ground.

 

[Kaane]

Hrassk soon felt the pain shooting up his leg as they stopped momentarily. He snarled at the Sith, fear giving way to anger as his weakness became all too apparent. He hated being this easy to harm, so fragile, so weak... But he soon realized where his emotions were going, and he pulled them back in, calming himself; he was weak in body, but he would not let himself be weak in mind. He would be no better than the Sith he was facing if he let his emotions take over.

He opened his guard, tired of being on the defensive. He entered his modified Soresu opening stance, his left foot in back with his orange saber in his left hand held behind him angled to the ground, while his green saber in his right was kept in front, held horizontally before him. He smiled and nodded at his opponent before he began to strike, saying "Don't expect to cripple me so easily, my friend."

Hrassk stepped back much more quickly this time with a quick twist of his front saber to block the Siths' rolling attack, reversing his stance with left in front, right in back, still watching the Sith carefully. He sidled around the fencing jab to his right with his front saber redirecting the blow, now much closer to the Sith, counterattacking with a stab of his own from the back. However, he didn't expect what came next; he was caught off balance by the shove, feeling the dark side push into him hard as he tripped over the Sith's leg. He grunted as he fell on his back, trying to roll away with his sabers held above him to block any other attacks that came his way.

 

[Aaron Corinth]

The jedi on the ground, rather than pounce as he probably should. He instead reached out to the man, grasping him with the force. He lifted the man off the ground holding him by the throat. He was focusing on crushing the larynx when he heard commotion near the entrance he came in. His eyes did not leave the jedi before him. However, before the deed could be done he was tackled by two rather large guards wearing full body armor. His blades deactivated as he was smacked to the ground. He glanced up as the jedi fell before him.

He wrestled away from the guards who had turned back to tend to the jedi and Damion stalked back through the door he had entered through. His anger was apparent as it boiled off of him and if the jedi were awake enough he could certainly feel the rage pulsing out from the man. It wasn't worth his time to face another opponent. This jedi was enough, he needed something to kill. He boarded his ship and headed directly back to Korriban. The beasts of the desert would make excellent victims for the rage coursing through his body.

 

[Kaane]

As Hrassk lay prone, looking up at the Sith that had so easily bested him, he knew he was at his mercy. Not that he expected any, of course... There was no reason for him to be alive in this Sith's mind. He closed his eyes, shuddering as he felt the Dark clamp on him like a vice, holding him in midair by the throat. He tried to gather his thoughts, but the fear that had once only bothered him earlier now consumed him completely; he knew he was going to die, and in one of the worst ways he could imagine: at the hands of a Sith. He struggled, trying to breathe, but each breath just delayed the inevitable. He was doomed.

He nearly blacked out when the guards tackled the Sith, making Hrassk fall roughly to the ground, gasping and coughing. He looked around blindly from the floor, then sensed and slowly began to see what appeared to be some sort of paramedic attempt to perform an examination, telling him to relax. "I don't need anything, I'm fine..." the disgraced Jedi rasped as he slowly got up. He winced as he bent down to pick up his two sabers and his robes, feeling the pain from the gash on his thigh come back with a vengeance. He then limped away, hanging his head low and away from the crowd. He had been shown up, beaten, and nearly killed in only a few minutes. It was at that moment that he realized how dangerous this all was; Sith weren't pushovers or slaves to their emotions, as he expected them to be. But he did learn how Sith fought...his question at the beginning of the match had been answered. He would prepare and perfect his dueling skills as soon as he returned to the Temples. And if he ever saw this masked Sith again, who had taught him such a valuable lesson, then he would undoubtedly return the favor.