True Colors - The Silent Badger vs Darth Victress

[Koil Solus]

♠ THEME ♠​

Koil replayed the message he had sent out through a leapfrog series of communication. It had bounced around, hitting hundreds if not thousands of major broadcasting networks. He even used the back door access he had made in the Boz Pity broadcasting network awhile back. ++This is a message for Darth Victress. You have two options. Stay where ever you are hiding and await death. Your other option is to come to Geonosis and try to kill me yourself. Come alone. Either way, I hope your affairs are in order. Sincerely, Silent Badger.++ Only the insignia of House Solus was shown as this message played. Other people who found the recording would probably have re uploaded and spread it around. The whole galaxy would be able to decide whether the Dark Lord of the Sith was all she was hyped up to be.

He had not said he was avenging Mandalore. The Echani had kept is simple and to the point. That was all she needed to know. What she decided would show her true colors.

Honestly Koil had not heard of her since she had fled the battle of Corellia. But she was a name on a list. Normally he would have hunted and killed any of his targets without giving them warning. But in this case, ever since the Battle of Mandalore, he wanted his enemies to know their end was coming. Fear was what she deserved to feel.

Knowing the Sith Empire, she would not take him seriously. She could stay hidden or in whatever dark side back water planet she was venturing through these days. The woman could bring a fleet to try and bomb the desert world. That was fine. He had contingencies.

Koil's Klaw streaked across the sky and came in low over the redish sands. Ahead of him was a wide valley with hundreds of the typical Geonosian spires sticking up like a bed of sandy nails. It was the middle of nowhere on the planet. Among his equipment he had a beacon he would put into place once the time was right to signal where on the planet he was so that the Dark Lord of the Sith could find him. Any other way, after issuing the challenge, could result in a physical audience being present. Koil just wanted it to be between him and Darth Victress. Now it was time to see if she was going to take him up on his challenge, or meet her death in the weeks to come. It might not be today, it might not be tomorrow. But it would be soon.

Reaching forward the War Councilor flicked a switch sending boosted energy to his Identify Friend or Foe tag. Silent Badger was broadcasting loudly on all channels in the system and it was far from quiet. "Come get me, hut'uun"

@Faded Truth

 

[Darth Victress]

.

GEONOSIS, DEATH DEALER'S VALLEY 13:24 LOCAL TIME

Darth Victress had been busy the last few days, first the Empress abdicated the throne, and then their new Emperor dissolved the Empire. Whether the dark lord agreed with that decision or not was meaningless, she was the head of the New Sith Order, one that she would ceremoniously build in her vision. And an opportunity to eliminate her mortal enemy? Perfect.

So, when the Silent Badger issued a holonet wide challenge, the Dark Lord met it with a vile laughter.

Mandalorians were growing more bold? Good..

The warm sunlight of Geonosis glistened brightly, bathing sands and rocks in its uncomfortable heat. Death Dealer's valley was desolate and without life, leaving only the two combatants alone in solitude. With the galaxy as their witness, this would be the battle to change the tide of war...forever. The landscape covered with sands, flat surfaces, and superimposed elevated spires and boulders. The valley was enormous, nearly 200 meters in diameter. Their respective ships were well hidden but no where near to play a factor.

Darth Victress became visible only as she emerged from behind rocky formations; standing roughly 70 meters away from the armored form of Koil Solus, her green eyes flickered as they gazed upon her enemy and slowly corrupted into a golden yellow. Dark energies pulsated around her force forged armor, culminating into a locus in her left hand while the crimson light of the fallen blade stood ignited in her right grip. Darth Victress bent the force to her will, senses and abilities on alert along with her physique ready to engage at the moment's notice. She nodded briefly towards her opponent, caring little if he heard it or not.

"War Councilor..."

Spoiler: OOC

All right, this is the third time I'm changing this post to suit this PvP. As per previous discussions, Ships/Vehicles are forbidden for involvement. This will be single, death enabled combat between Darth Victress and Koil Solus. If there are issues with the range and physical dimensions of our terrain, please address in the OOC Thread.

 

[Koil Solus]

It was a strange feeling in the back of Koil's mind. It was a bit of disappointment that this confrontation could not have happened sooner. He had thought he had calculated the amount of time of most locations Darth Victress had been hiding in the days preceding his original threat. But now that he added it up it was almost like she was two days later than he had expected. Maybe he had just expected too much from her.

Behind him a hundred meters away from Koil sat his vessel. It's security system was fully engaged and the built in droid brain had authority to shoot anyone but him with the built in groundsweeper cannon. He had seen the distant spec of Darth Victress's ship descend through the atmosphere and park somewhere else out of sight like he had done.

Koil waited, just as patiently as he had thus far. One hand clicked on his gauntlet bulwark shield knowing this fight would be more confrontational than he normally did his violent acts. The smooth pull of one quickdraw blaster as practiced as always hung at his side with his finger tapping patiently along the receiver. The song of Death is a melody even the deaf will hear. He would end up putting that line in to some song probably at some point.

He tapped his foot for awhile. The dust puffed around the sole of his boot. Okay this is taking longer than usual. I mean, did she take a wrong turn at the fourth spire shaped like a vase? Thankfully he thought of song titles and some lyrics for one of his acoustic pieces about vengeance and justice until the Dark Lord of the Sith finally arrived.

The one obvious dark and shady spot was more or less also still dead ahead from where he had expected her to come out more or less. His helmet turned to look at her. His left gauntlet raised from hip level at a ninety degree angle while the hand attached made a lewd gesture. The heartbeat following this Koil shifted weight to his left and pushed with enough force so that his jetpack threw him sideways five meters deeper into the spire forest and thus loosing eye contact with Darth Victress. If she had said something from that distance of seventy odd meters Koil would not have heard it unless she had shouted it awkwardly.

That'll be the last time you see me Victress He was not a good man. Koil had told someone as much recently and he was about to prove that by taking this woman's life. Not only that, he was going to enjoy it. His left hand after it was out of sight dropped and pulled a concussion grenade from his belt. His boots touched down, skidding in the sand. The setting for the grenade was for impact. He held it, for the time being in a tight grip aching for an opportunity to chuck it.

@Faded Truth

 

[Darth Victress]

.

It seemed the Mandalorian was content to wait.

Was Darth Victress?

Definitely. Darth Victress realized the game being played. Did the Mandalorian think he had acquired himself an advantage? Did he believe the realm of Geonosis would shield his presence any better than his enemy would find him? Or did he think the Dark Lord would simply chase without wit?

Darth Victress was not intimidated by it, unfortunate for the Mandalorian; as soon as Koil turned his head, the dark lord shot towards him in sprint. Predatory speed, unencumbered in the force forged armor as she attempted to close the distance between them. As the Mandalorian leaped to his own left, Darth Victress planted her left foot into the soil before strafing to her right. This allowed her movements to parallel that of her enemy, whichever line of sight was lost momentarily would be re-acquired as she passed the spire in front of her.

With her senses on full alert, she utilized her natural abilities; Force Sight, granting her clarity over Koil's armored form and his present location as he took no precautions to hide himself. The force rippled and gathered in her left hand while the lightsaber twirled to a defensive position across her torso, ready on a moment's notice to defend or attack. Darth Victress was actively pursuing, prepared for warnings through the force as she advanced through the spire forest, approaching close to 40 meters from her target.

@Darasaurus

 

[Koil Solus]

Koil watched down the length of the valley behind his V slit visor as he watched the Dark Lord of the Sith run towards him. She did so on foot and it was not a particularly exhilarating sight. The sand under her feet shooting out behind her as she got as much traction as she could to bring her towards him but a few seconds passed as she did so before she would reach her intended mark. But even for Koil it looked rather pedestrian.

He held his stance for a moment allowing her to keep an eye on him for a moment while she tried to close the distance. He fired twice at Victress despite her being outside of optimum range. That was fine. He pushed off with his left foot going back the way he had come. The moment his foot touched down again from the ten meter strafe he repeated the action. Another ten meters this time curving around counter clock wise but not aiding the Sith in decreasing the distance between them. If she matched his movement again he would fire at her again. The rapid transition through the forest was something that would force her to use something other than normal running to match.

At his new position he leveled his quickdraw so the moment Victress possibly entered one of the sight lines he would be able to hit her with hiss outstretched pistol. Should she give him reason the moment she entered view he would fire on her. But maneuvering was still the name of the game and he waited. Normally he would completely flank or even attack without letting his enemy know he was there but this was a little bit different from his normal fight. Just a little bit longer.

@Faded Truth

 

[Darth Victress]

.

So the Mandalorian continued to play...

Good

Darth Victress scanned her opponent and adjacent landscape, the single application of Force Sight granting her the knowledge she needed. A wicked smirk came to her face as she advanced to her intended mark, right foot planting quickly as she strafed to her left when the Quickdraw bolts lashed outwards and her opponent moved towards his right. All the bolts being in sub optimal range and due to her rapid movement, posed no threat as they smashed harmlessly into the ground and stone ahead and far right of her current position. As the Dark Lord moved, the force channeled through her, maintaining a portion of her abilities always on defense as the lightsaber remained ready in an angle capable of defending and blocking incoming bolts should the Mandalorian decide to test her.

Darth Victress' transition through the forest seamless, and when the Mandalorian launched his second strafe, she was ready to assault. Dark energies rippled across the surface of her armored, left hand; already prepared, her fingers fanned out suddenly and just as quickly curled into a fist which she retracted in a fast twitch to her body. The gesture echoed with a manipulation in the force, delivering a quick burst of telekinetic assault just as Koil pushed off with his left foot a second time. Force Telekinesis, rudimentary of most powers but still strikingly effective when used properly. She intended to yank him forward to the right, utilizing the momentum and speed of his own jetpack to smash him into the stone spire. Considering that he was already committed to the rightward movement, he would be hard pressed to move his body in a counter direction against the force attack.

The jarring blow would disrupt his ability to level the Quickdraw, but hopefully would also cause the concussion grenade held in his grasp to self detonate given the hard impact, causing significant problems for the Mandalorian. Darth Victress continued to advance towards him, utilizing the Spire forest for her own benefit and cover as she approached the 30 meter mark. Senses on alert, sinister force energies gathered through her flesh, focusing into her left hand as the Dark Lord maintained her preparation to deal with her opponent's next series of actions.

@Darasaurus

 

[Koil Solus]

Koil had moved out of sight of Victress but she must have some other technique allowing her to know where he was. His body lurched and moved in a way he had not intended. His body impacted and spun slightly as he tried to roll off the momentum. The Silent Badger's body spun before he steadied himself behind the spire that Darth Victress had intended for him to slam into. He ended up more or less at the same position he had intended only with a bit more jarring than the War Councilor had intended.

It hurt, that much was for sure and he was not looking forward to anything of that sort happening to him again. She may have hit him with some kind of power but she was clearly using more than one simultaniously if she were able to land it in the first place without seeing him in the traditional sense. His scatterweave was not going to be as effective then.

His visor turned to get his grenade back into his view. The item was still firmly in his grasp. His blaster in his right hand had some scraps due to the abrassion against the stone. Its matte black finish revealing some of the alloy's true color underneath. It had been blackened to reduce glint in the field but in this case that hardly mattered not unlike his own armor's color. His fingers moved over the smooth surface of the ordenance. If all he was going to do was get shoved around like in a mosh-pit this was going to be different than he expected. Still, Koil was not the type to shout insults during an engagement. In this environment he did have the urge to regardless.

@Faded Truth

 

[Darth Victress]

.

Darth Victress enjoyed toying with the Mandalorian, that much was guaranteed. Fun was not something one considered when traveling across the galaxy to eliminate your foes, but this brought a faint smile to her lips.

Intermittent usages of Force Sight granted her abilities that negated whichever positional advantage the Mandalorian had assumed, she now knew where he was and no longer utilized the force power. Darth Victress pressed with her attack, wasting no time as immediately after Koil was smacked into the stone, a Corsec knock out grenade flew from her left palm. Propelled by a quick application of force push, it traveled the 30 meters to clang against the right sided wall of the spire Koil stood behind. The impact setting released the poisonous toxins into the air after it made contact, its generous 10 meter radius of affect would likely engulf the armored war councilor in entirety should he choose not to move.

Darth Victress kept a cold and calculating gaze ahead, a faceless gargoyle as she spoke no words but rather radiated and saturated the air with her sinister presence. She had continued her movement during this entire time, force rippled through her body prepared to lash out when needed while she calmly stalked the perimeter of the 30 meter range in a counter clockwise motion. Her normal cone of vision gave her an ample viewing angle into the left and right sided lanes adjacent to the Spire.

The Hunt was on....

@Darasaurus

 

[Koil Solus]

The left and the right were the easiest for Victress to approach. It would have been possible though unlikely if she had tried to leap over the spires obscuring both of their lines of sight on one another. But He did not see her, nor anything else move save for a small device flying towards the spot he had impacted.

Goore Koil took a step to his right further distancing himself from where he expected it to hit.. The Mandalorians trained mind expected it to be set to impact. At the end of his wide step his jetpack lifted him to strafe to his right an additional ten meters, setting him still roughly a eleven or twelve meters from the grenade's impact point.

He did not want to move from the grenade because he knew it had that range. Instead Koil took the grenade as a sign that Darth Victress knew his position. That meant he had to move from that position as far as possible. The grenade impacted at the same time as his feet touched the red sands. As he had moved spires continued to obscure both Darth Victress and Silent Badger's eyesight from seeing one another. The two of them avoiding visual on one another still.

He dashed forward towards the spire in front of him with his pistol at the ready. It was only a few meters ahead of him and he kept his eyes to the left and right of the spire in case Darth Victress pied it off looking for him. The thick spire he felt would protect him to a degree at least from line of sight and possibly any other kind of attack that the Dark Lord of the Sith might try. The moment she showed herself he would pull the trigger. At least that would be the case if she ever came back into sight. Tengaanar

@Faded Truth

 

[Darth Victress]

.

These tactics were bland, for lack of a better word. But, Darth Victress would play along, she felt the cat and mouse game that Koil had initiated would be somewhat more challenging than simply beating him to a bloody pulp if he stood toe to toe against her.

A smart Mandalorian? Perhaps, at least more promise than his underlings.

Darth Victress kept her cold gaze focused around the spire she knew he cowered behind and as he launched into the air, she simply dashed forwards. Considering the spires were merely 2 meters in diameter while the gaps between them were considerably larger, all she needed to maintain visual was shift her movements counter-clockwise to her own right, tracking his position intermittently between viewing lanes. The force surged and crackled through the forest, almost as if its sinister evil had absorbed and anointed the terrain, rocks and landscape.

Dark energies pulsated through her, constantly replenishing whichever expenditure she utilized prior as she moved closer to her target. Right hand remained curled around the hilt of her crimson weapon, the lightsaber held defensively and ready to deal with her enemy's unpredictable attacks as she advanced. Darth Victress suddenly emerged on his left, the distance between them narrowed, approximately 25 meters. The spire forest remained in its jagged appearance around them, capable of shielding her should she choose. The force gathered around the Dark Lord, coiled and writhing, ready to strike.

A savage grin laced on her lips though fully hidden by the ebony helm; what would the Mandalorian do next?

@Darasaurus

 

[Koil Solus]

His finger pulled the trigger at the motion of a black clad figure revealing herself twenty fiver meters away. He burst diagnoally forward and to his right with the jet of his armor bound assistance. It put him behind another spire after the blaster bolts were released for a split second. She would have lost sight of him after he had stopped and moved the several meters closer to be right behind the spire while he had been holding the angle giving him the edge. Peaking around corners and timing things right tended to end poorly for the bad guy. But even that would probably get blocked by the Dark Lord of the Sith. Normally a blaster bolt was enough to dispatch more common scum.

She had done just like he had expected so far. While Darth Victress was on his left with another closer spire between them he tossed the grenade up and over. By the time he cleared the spire the grenade would be high in the sky and angling down towards Victress. She could try to focus on him or maybe risk getting hit by the concussion grenade he had kept thus far. When he cleared the spire he depressed the blaster's trigger again sending more bolts down range. She was not utilzing her space magic for sight in that moment even though Koil did not know it. His plan was to give her more than she could deal with.

The closer she got the harder it was going to be for her to block his attacks. So far he had made her feel like she was at a disadvantage at range and not gettting anywhere. The truth of the matter was that neither was a weakness for the Silent Badger. If she ended up doing nothing to stop his movement he would end up once again behind another spire, securing his cover. She would learn what it was like to be on the receiving end of a guerrilla tactics.

The man's right hand was in a fist. The gauntlet bulwark shield and the way his arm was kept his appendage obscured. There was no way for her to tell visually, other than noticing the small flying object above her, that he had loosed his ordnance.

@Faded Truth

 

[Darth Victress]

.

So the Mandalorian had some fight in him. Valiant

Darth Victress tilted her head to the side in what appeared to be absent-minded thought, flashing a savage grin as her enemy fired. The Dark Lord had continued her movement throughout this engagement and so, a quick burst of natural speed favoring her left side, she strafed in that direction as the first of the quickdraw bolts whistled past her former position to smash into the ground behind her while the second was batted away by the crimson shaft of her blade as she twirled it in a clockwise motion.

The force surged and cracked around Geonosis, palpable in its presence and lashed out at the will of its dark master when the Mandalorian made his own move. As he cleared the spire and was locked into firing on her, Darth Victress struck outwards with her left hand, forming a claw and she snapped her wrist inwards; a crack of displaced air swept in command, force seeping into the jetpack for a vicious tug of its internal circuitry during mid-flight. Similar to the Disable Droid attack she used to immobilize Leandros Solus' War Droid, she hoped to overload and disable its electronic components. The rudimentary nature of the attack and the power of the venerable Sith Lord, would likely mean that such a small and simple electronic device as the jetpack would likely be disabled prior to its owner completing his transition to the next spire. The sudden drop in altitude and velocity would likely plummet him to the unwelcoming ground prior to establishing cover behind the desired spire.

As for the grenade, Darth Victress had been moving, her armored figure a barely discernible blur through the spire forest. Her current position as Koil concluded his flight path was well outside of the harmful radius of the concussive grenade. A jarring explosion of brilliant light was beyond 5 meters away, occurring behind and to the right of the Dark Lord as she moved. The remnants of audible tinnitus disturbing but not enough to slow her down. Darth Victress always maintained a partial concentration on defense; Crimson blade rested in a guarding position, her right wrist snapping as a fulcrum as it sprang upwards catching the first bolt with the middle of its shaft and then snapped back down to strike the second bolt to the dirt at her feet.

Silence settled over the terrain, the lone Darth staring coldly at her opponent, the armored Mandalorian before her. The force pulsated at her command in preparation for another attack while the hum of her crimson weapon joined by the Dark Lord's hissing laughter. She came to a position roughly 18 meters from her enemy, her left hemibody shielded by the nearest spire.

@Darasaurus

 

[Koil Solus]

Koil had done everything as planned. Even the second blaster shot had been fired before his feet touched the ground earlier than he had expected. Koil's skilled body adapted easily enough. His heels digging into the sand causing him to firmly come to a halt after a short skid. He had dropped to the ground before he had gone into the cover of his target spire. That was not ideal.

A small orange light on his left inner forearm blinked telling him his jetpack was in a period of temporary system reboot. Either this was the worst time for him to suddenly have equipment failure or the Sith before him had something to do with it. It did not matter since he would still gut her either way. That was his focus still. Am'yc

His grenade went off behind the Sith. The left corner of his mouth twitched to almost smile the closer she got. The depth of his field focusing forward more and more. He did not see a forest of spires in that moment. Silent Badger's crimson gaze stared with killing intent at his only target in that moment. She was a dead woman walking.
The moment his feet came to a stop he pushed off. This time it was not accompanied by a burst from his jetpack. Instead he was just running diagonally towards some cover to his right. That was fine by him being on foot. He could kill Victress with his bare hands if it came down to it. If Koil had to claw with every last thing he had he would sever this witch's life he would do it without hesitation. ky'am

His right hand was still centered on her even as she continued to move from her point on disabling his jetpack. The grenade non-lethal explosion offering even more things for his skilled eye to gauge not just distance but the speed of Darth Victress' form. He fired again. His other hand, now free rapidly pulled his second custom black clad quickdraw. He The moment it cleared the holster the muzzle of the blaster lifted towards Victress's position and he fired. The Silent Badger had only made it a few meters at this point in his run. Still, two quickdraws at the same time at this distance with his practiced skill would keep Victress deeper into cover as he moved forward unless she decided she would rather take his attack on directly.

@Faded Truth

 

[Darth Victress]

.

The Mandalorian believed himself to be in control?

Cute

Darth Victress did have to respect his courage, seeking a fight with her all alone without any allies to aid while also continuing to battle with a showcase of bravado. Ill-placed? Definitely. Admirable, nonetheless.

After all, one could not lose face when challenging the Sith Order's primary enforcer, especially not when the entire galaxy was witness.

Her cold and calculating gaze remained fixed on her prey as his jetpack was temporarily nullified, forcing the previous airborne warrior to the ground. Darth Victress had foreseen this when she attacked the electronics equipment, tactfully pushing her opponent into a corner where the positional advantage now lay with her. And that was what the Dark Lord saw as her opening. The prepared force attack unleashed as she slammed out her left hand, curling the fingers inwards partially. The force coiled and displaced violently, wrapping an invisible tendril around the ankles of her opponent as he pushed off the ground, yanking his legs out from underneath in an attempt to land him on his backside. This occurred as he was firing on the Darth, but serving to interrupt his attempt to cover the three meters necessary to reach the spire.

Unfortunately for the Dark Lord, the Mandalorian was faster than she had anticipated and was able to fire off his shots in time, albeit skewed in trajectory by her attack. The left handed quickdraw bolts smashed to the ground wide right from her current position. While the right handed quickdraw bolts came fast towards her, the first one was blocked by a counter-clockwise twirl of her lightsaber but the second came on its heel and smashed against her right armored shoulder. Darth Victress howled in pain as the armor shredded along with the ebony clothing and seeping into the flesh underneath. Skin tore with a erythematous gash along with mild blistering; the force from the blow spun her clockwise as she braced against the edge of the spire she sought cover from. Right handed saber un-ignited and its hilt dropped to the ground from the shot near her feet, Darth Victress instead making no attempt at this time to grab it, her right handed fingers twinkled in the air as if playing an unseen musical instrument.

The sudden pull would likely cause the Mandalorian to topple with his own momentum, perhaps even slamming his head to the unwelcoming ground. Even now, yellow sulfur eyes stared down on the badger from behind the ebony helm, burning with hatred. Force pooled from the very same vein Darth Victress had used to grip his legs, the prepared attack seamless in transition as it continued further. Her left handed fingers slowly closed as the tendril materialized around her victim's neck, wrapping tighter and tighter. The invisible grasp, crushing as it continued to strangle him. The damage she took would weaken the force choke but not negate it fully.

Darth Victress was no fool though, and quite aware of her surroundings as she was sure he was too. The sorceress continued to channel her darkened magics, her vision and squarely on the Mandalorian, the mental game of predator and prey as she calculated and anticipated his next movements.

Without any discernible barriers to break Line of sight, the Silent Badger had few options....

@Darasaurus

 

[Koil Solus]

Koil saw the blaster bolts move through the air towards his target and the iconic slapping of a blaster bolt impacting armor. An accompanied sound of pain rang out from Darth Victress when she took the hit. At the same time grab on his legs was felt for a moment as the grip solidified in the force and a moment later his legs were out in front of him, his butt falling to the ground as they were yank out from under him.

That was inconvenient, but not the end of the world. His upper body was still upright, jarred slightly by the action but no more than when someone slips on the ice while taking out the trash. That was what Koil was doing, taking out the trash. Perhaps she had intended to continue to drag him closer but he only moved a meter towards her and was no longer had any momentum towards the cover roughly two meters two his right. Her form was about just as visible as it had been though. Perhaps she had not thought this all the way through.

Koil centered his weapons on the exposed parts of his target who was without a lightsaber now. But her hand rose to grab his throat in a force choke as he pulled the trigger of both his quickdraws again. Whether she maintained that force choke or not he would pull the triggers a second time. Underneath his helmet his pale features were contorted into anger and pure stubbornness. He had been waterboarded before, put in an uncountable amount of choke holds and head locks among other things, and losing a few moments of air was not too big of a deal. It was going to give him the time he needed to put Victress down before she could choke the life out of him.

After his bolts left his weapon, he saw on the inside of his wrist the jetpack had rebooted and was ready for use again. Right now his hands were occupied. It was only a few centimeters away though and the Dark Lord of the Sith was deciding to focus her power on choking him slowly. Normally lifting people off the ground was the more iconic way that resulted in faster asphyxiation but for some reason she was intent on killing him slowly. Considering her current state she was venting an excessive amount of her power out like an undisciplined acolyte. She was just leaking the force and had taken damage. She's bleeding herself out

@Faded Truth

 

[Darth Victress]

.

Darth Victress retained her yellow sulfur eyes burning on Koil during her attack, and even when she was engaging the force choke she was aware of his movements. When she saw him preparing to fire, she took that time to execute her defense.

One second, it wasn't much, but it was enough for a single step. Darth Victress was already standing with her left hemibody shielded behind the Spire, and so she took that step further to her left. The visible portions of her body were no longer in the same location that the Mandalorian intended to fire, where he had been pre-aiming in order to hit her with any degree of precision. Given her new position, the left handed bolts hit the ground where her right leg use to be while the other two were closer on target roughly, impacting the cheek of her face armor and right forearm with glancing blows. They would slow her down, but not by much and she would feel the impact travel up her right torso like a poorly executed punch. As for the second shots, since her position had changed, one of two things would happen. Either he would take the shots at her previous spot and his bolts would hit nothing but air or he would take the time to readjust his aim, granting the Sith time to utilize a secondary defense. And she did utilize the secondary defense regardless. Darth Victress was a high level force user, capable of splitting her focus and utilizing multiple powers at once. As such, her free right hand snapped its wrist to the right in order to send a simple but effective telekinetic jerk on Koil's torso to interrupt his second series of shots. This time, scattering the four bolts in off-intended trajectory. Two of them hit the ground far right of her position and the other two smashed against the stone spire, sparking off debris and pebbles.

Koil's attempt at defense had been negated by the Dark Lord and as he made no move to change his position to break line of sight, her force choke continued without interruption. This was evident by the closing of her left hand, curled tightly into a fist now to signify full effects of her deadly attack. Elbow snapped inwards as the left bicep flexed, yanking Koil's chin upwards and to the right; it was true that maintaining a grip would be draining but Darth Victress had only utilized rudimentary telekinetic powers and a disable droid up until this point, abilities that were common even with her lowliest of acolytes. She would be tiring but far from exhausted. Her force choke had been slower than she intended, given the distractions, her injuries, and the new glancing blows. But, that was okay.

She knew that the seasoned Mandalorian could likely remain calm under the effects of asphyxiation, albeit longer than most she had encountered before. However, that was not the concern, it was the silent killer that posed the greatest risk to the War Councilor.

A simple aspect of biological nature: Her force choke was an external attack, manifested by a tendril that wrapped tighter and tighter around his neck. As such, prior to going breathless he would feel the effects first of a blood choke. The carotid and vertebral arteries, likely occluded with the passage of time, as only a few seconds of diminished blood flow were necessary to push the brain into an anoxic state. Cerebral hypoxia, causing tunneling of vision, lack of vision, cognitive dysfunction, strokes, intracranial edema, seizures, and ultimately unconsciousness.

Darth Victress would be surprised if he maintained consciousness through this, fully expecting him to go limp in her grasp before finally going breathless. However, she knew her enemy had an unyielding fight and as such she remained prepared. A sinister scowl on her face as she pressed with her attack, her right hand remaining free to intervene if the Mandalorian somehow attempted a last ditch effort to break away from her grasp.

@Darasaurus

 

[Koil Solus]

The tightening around his neck persisted but weakened when he saw two of the bolts hit the dark armored form of the cowering woman. Her right arm, upper and lower had now taken damage. Her mask, blasted as well but not enough to take her out completely. The second volley of shots missed as well thanks to the witch's manipulation. In fact his right hand was jerked so abruptly that his hand dropped his blaster.

When his hands were moved to the side he did not bring both of them back to center. His free right hand pressed his left forearm. The hold on his throat was not strong enough to keep him stationary and would simply end, though not in a comfortable manner. His butt was still on the ground but Darth Victress would have wasted her focus as the Mandalorian's rebooted jetpack brought him up and over the spires that simultaniously pied off the edge of the spire the Dark Lord of the Sith was using as cover.

His breathing was labored, gasping for air and feeling his own adrenaline rush pumping through his veins. The only thing that was really making any noise was his own jetpack and the sound of his blaster discharging. The hammering of his heart beat seemed to drown out the rest and would take a moment before he felt like he had caught his breath.

It was rapid, and Koil was only a few meters off the ground in case she wanted to cut his thrusters again. He would be disappointing if she tried the same trick twice. A cough came from the man as air returned to his lungs and the circulation was no longer hampering his abilities. If she tried another ranged attack his somewhat sideways motion would not make it easy to hit him.

In flight mode he could travel twenty meters per second roughly. The Sith Lord was in for a surprise. The Silent Badger only was intending on traverse enough distance to get a full look on the dark sider. As he moved he fired again with his left handed blaster at the exposed part of the Sith. This time he was clear of risking being pushed into any spires since that also seemed to be a repeated tactic she had tried.

She was overestimating her abilities it seemed. But that did not mean she was not still dangerous. After he had switched to flight mode with his right hand draw the dirk slug pistol from the chest holster in one fluid motion. He would be ready to fire off next salvo if he saw the opportunity. The badger's teeth were already around her throat. It was just a matter of time.

@Faded Truth

 

[Darth Victress]

.

The battle was afoot, and Darth Victress wasted no time. Left hand released its clenched fist, relinquishing the force choke when the Mandalorian broke free of her grasp, realizing that her current plan was no longer a viable option. Immediately, she pushed off backwards and to her right, the hilt of the fallen blade returned into her left grasp, igniting the weapon as she moved.

Her free right hand reacted almost immediately, an invisible spider web would take hold of the Mandalorian's jetpack left thruster in flight. The attack would not go noticed, granting the Badger no additional external stimuli to change his desired course of action. The curling of her right fist would reflect a gestured attack, smashing the thruster inwards in a bend of metal to her dark will as her enemy completed his shot placement. It didn't need to be elaborate, simply enough that its structural function could no longer support the Mandalorian in air.

Given her movement, Darth Victress was no longer in the same position as Koil had previously seen her. As the two bolts came on their heels, her left handed blade struck upwards in a clockwise motion to block one bolt followed by a quick snap of her wrist to the left to deflect the second. As her defense concluded, her lightsaber readied regardless into a continued defensive position where it remained capable of defending against further onslaught.

Darth Victress circled the arena in a counter-clockwise notion towards the nearest spire on her right. Predatory gaze scanned at her nemesis, on the alert for new threats the dangerous Mandalorian may deliver. Force pooled from invisible veins and tendrils as it pulsated and accumulated as a locus on her left backhand, shimmering in extension as it seemingly enveloped her grip on the saber and hilt during the engagement. For the moment though, she did not release it, allowing it to nurture in preparation.


@Darasaurus

 

[Koil Solus]

♠ THEME ♠​

Koil had figured his shots would have missed her. They had been close enough for the woman to think she needed to block both shots though, sending them harmlessly off into the surrounding. But the Echani's movements now felt wrong, like missing a step on a set of stairs or feeling uneven ground only he was in mid air. Koil knew something was wrong when his body started to drop. It was not a startlingly fast speed but it was far from an intentional descent. His jetpack was not working, again. The War Councilor had expected as much though in this case it was not a straight cut off mid-flight like it had been previously. At least that was a benefit.

Victress had backed away from the spire she had used as cover. She had moved out into the open to reposition to another spire. But that just put her in front of both sidearms without any cover. The jetpack was not strong enough to support his weight continually anymore. But the by the time his feet touched the ground a single trigger pull from each of the pistols would send intended death towards the Dark Lord of the sith that was still only about four meters away. His aim dragged the weapons down so the shots were aimed at Victress's legs. Even with a rattled state, at this range Koil was confident he would hit the wounded witch.

Legs bent, absorbing and accepting the responsibility of propelling him from this point on. He pushed off with as much strength as he could, bounding towards Victress to close the distance. His right thruster still sputtering thinking he was trying to use his damaged utility. At least it made him feel a little lighter and not strain his legs. The Silent Badger would have to work on lightening his equipment after this.

His body twisted slightly as he moved. His quickdraw moved its muzzle away from the Dark Lord of the Sith rapidly. The arm used to rest his slug thrower wielding hand. But that was not all the arm had. His left index finger depressed his cryocaster. It would activate before the Sith was in range. But Koil's movement would bring the extent of the in range as the two second burst of the cryo weapon shot towards her. A second slug would be fired at Victress as the cryocaster was activated. There was not chance she was going to get into cover if she kept at her current speed. She would have to turn tail and run. But he doubted that would happen, unless she wanted to get shot through the back of her legs. Then she would be getting very far anyways.

@Faded Truth

 

[Darth Victress]

.

She had to give him credit, the Silent Badger was a tenacious foe, and significantly more challenging than she had predicted. Would he be able to overcome the Dark Lord in single combat? Perhaps, but right now, it was still anyone's game.

Darth Victress observed as her force crush had the effects she desired, her hand releasing the tendrils that grasped his thruster. The pooled energy that remained as a locus around her left hand was released forth with a simple gesture involving snapping her left fist forwards; air displaced and whipped quickly as a column of force shot upwards to push at the Mandalorian's arms as he fired. It would cause no damage, but served to skew his shots such that instead of being directed towards her legs, they went upwards and to her left. The slug whistled past her left ear into the air behind her, while the two quickdraw bolts came racing towards her chest. Thankfully, her lightsaber was already maintained in a defensive position, so she merely flicked it in a counter-clockwise motion to catch the first bolt on the blade tip, sending it away into the environment while striking down quickly on the second bolt, this one deflected into the ground.

Darth Victress continued in her movement, showing no hesitation evident in her posture as her enemy finally landed and surged towards her. Her legs adapted, pushing off with her left leg backwards as the Mandalorian came forwards. A malicious grin came across her lips as a torrent of green electricity crackled across her hand, fingers fanning and releasing a burst of green tainted Force Lightning towards the chest of the Mandalorian to interrupt his attack. As her lightning had greater effective distance than his cryocaster, it was timed prior to his attack and prior to him being within his cryocaster's lethal range. The attack would occur as he had his arms extended in preparation to fire his weapon, with no feasible method of defending the blow to his torso. As a secondary measure, Darth Victress maintained her backwards motion, to keep herself out of the cryocaster's range regardless. She may have been tired, injured, and her lightning would not have the strength that a fresh version of herself would have conjured. But that was okay, at the distance of 4-5 meters, even a weakened Dark Lord's lightning was exceptionally deadly. The interrupt would nullify his slug thrower shot, but her lightsaber readied regardless in a defensive position to block the second slug if it were re-affirmed.

Darth Victress paced in a counter-clockwise motion, her hand still cackling with the green electricity though it was not released. It shimmered in her grasp, remaining ready to lash out when she wished. Given the distance between them still, the Mandalorian would be a fool to think any attack he could counter would be faster than her stream of current. It served as a remainder that he should perhaps second guess his charge.

She could hear her own heartbeat, the kick of adrenaline rushing through her veins.

@Darasaurus