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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Social Games The Rancor Pit (EUC Dueling thread)

Discussion in 'EU Community' started by Bardan_Jusik, Mar 2, 2013.

  1. Adalia-Durron

    Adalia-Durron WNU/Costume/Props/EUC Mod. star 10 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Jun 3, 2003
    IC Adalia Tehanis

    Adjusts her seating before opening a block of cadbury rum and raisin chocolate, breaking off a piece she sets the remainder on the ledge and leans forward with interest whilst nibbling the piece.

    TAG Ananta Chetan Mitth_Fisto vncredleader BookExogorth
     
    BookExogorth and vncredleader like this.
  2. vncredleader

    vncredleader Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Mar 28, 2016
    IC: Varian Aldor

    Edo ignites her blades, illuminating the pit. I did not come into this with much of a plan for how to fight Edo in particular, seeing the guard shotos I smiled, instantly knowing what my plan would be. I ignite my green blade and grab it with both hands. I move forward swiftly with the blade facing up before quickly moving it facing in front of me in a stabbing position a bit to the right of my torso while having my left shoulder now face Edo.

    Tag: BookExogorth
     
  3. Kaleesh-Cyborg

    Kaleesh-Cyborg Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jan 4, 2017
    Combo featuring Saadi, Leda, Vexx, and Kylo Ren
    Tournament of Darkness - Level 7 - Part II
    (continued)

    Scrambling to his feet, Saadi slipped briefly as stones and rocks continued cascading erratically, tumbling hellishly into the abyss behind him.
    Doubt. What was that?

    Hearing Kylo's sinister shout, 'You are making this MORE DIFFICULT!' caused doubt, yet nodding to his fellow Sith in solidarity, Saadi stepped forward shaking his head violently, eradicating all feelings. He snarled, launching a canister of two deadly Kouhun behind Ren, hoping to poison him while the psychotic sicko dealt with the frontal assaults.

    Regaining his footing and stepping towards Kylo again, Saadi flung a live detonator at his enemy's feet and removing his blaster from his belt, he crouched low and began firing rapidly at the monster's torso and head.

    Seeing Saadi find the strength to fight back and attack bolsters the cyborg's confidence and he follows the Clawdite's lead as though they really had strategized this into perfect choreography. There is no guarantee that it will work, but it's worth a shot. Grievance adds to the barrage of blaster bolts by igniting the flamethrower in his arm and aiming a blast at Kylo. He then adds speed and power to the fireball by sending out a Force push after it, carrying it with deadly precision toward its target.


    Leda screamed.

    The cyborg had saved her from a would-be fatal attack from Kylo Ren, one she hadn’t seen coming; a foolish, amateur mistake that had nearly cost her life. Now, so close to the end, after all she had been subjected to and forced to endure. Still lying prone and linked through a mental connection to her comrades, she howled in pain and agony, in rage. She felt every inch of her injuries and the depth of her mental distress, the bottomless pit that her hate for this entire experience dwelled in, festering and growing.

    Tears left streaks in the grit, grime and blood upon her cheeks as she pushed herself upright, breathing heavily, heart racing in her chest. The warrior was positively seething as Ren spoke again, taunting them with his menacing voice and prowess in the Force. The fragging bastard. Her bright gaze focused on him as all else seemed to fade away, the chaos of her surroundings melting down into a nondescript haze.

    Saadi’s charge with explosives and blasters and Vexx’s assault with fire were both there in her periphery as she climbed to her feet, almost as if she were pulled by unseen strings. The Force was guiding her now, darkness swelling within to the point of nearly consuming her. She let it.

    All Leda saw was Ren as she unleashed the gathered storm of energy, focusing inward on his mind rather than attempting a physical strike. Utilizing a technique she had never mastered, she harnessed the Force into an invisible spike that she drove straight into the heart of her foe’s brain.


    The sound of Saadi’s blaster unclipping sliding out of his holster, the emergence of Vexx’s hidden flamethrower, the panel on his armor sliding and popping, revealing… The shuffling of Leda’s feet slightly as she focused her rage.

    Everything seemed to slow to a crawl, the force made it that way to those who allowed it to flow. The trio was beyond capacity in handling what had transpired against them. Physically and mentally beyond what they could ever had imagined. Perhaps even wishing they had been among those simple dragged away in past events. To be put down like dogs, such a fate would have been a merciful escape from this hell.

    The canisters of poison arched over Ren, with a swipe of his hand both of them traveled a short distance and rolled into the abyss, sending them cascading down into a vast nothingness and rendering them as ‘grenades’ and an ‘attack’ completely null.

    Ren’s free arm came back around, sensing the next movement as it lurched up, outstretched towards the barrage of blaster bolts directed at him by Saadi. Each of the half a dozen or so bolts coming to a drastic halt mid-air. A harrowing wrenching, whining and buzzing energy sound screeching as they seemed to be caught in suspended animation meters in front of Ren between he and Saadi.

    Raising his saber forward and up the tip of it perpendicular to the ground, Ren hooked his arm and elbow as if almost holding a shield. The flame and fireball passing around his saber, The pressing assault of flames held at bay by Ren’s concentration as a force barrier formed around his lightsaber and guarded right arm. The path of flames flowing to the right of Ren as if directed.

    Meanwhile the detonator thrown at his feet was of a true mark, set to detonate only a few meters from Ren himself, had it not been for the fact that the detonator rolled a foot too far and tumbled into a crevasse, it too falling down and missing its mark nearly completely.

    Ren held both his left and right arms out holding the assaults from both Saadi and Vexx at bay. The strain on Ren’s face underneath the mask was evident as his cheeks trembled and eyes burned with concentration.

    Then the assault from Leda came directly at his mind, unmastered but forceful and concentrated. A forceful spike to the center of his mind. His mental concentration was already being taxed, pushing back against Leda. Ren pushed back at her, attempting to reverse the pain. Between the three of them though he was on spread thin. Everything hanged in a knife point, as the blaster bolts, flames and mental assault we slowly encroaching on Ren.

    They had to press and finish this.


    Watching carefully as Ren dealt with their combined attacks, Darth Saadi suddenly sprinted forward, channelling his rage to the finest possible point.

    Focusing all of his hatred on the masked monstrosity, Saadi summoned possibly his last bit of strength as he activated his red bladed lightsaber and leaping into the air, drove the blade straight at where Kylo's heart would be, if he had one.


    Grievance is not necessarily surprised by the initial ineffectiveness of his and Saadi's attacks. This mysterious figure is on top of his game and they are drained and tired to a point of delirium. The odds are pretty obvious despite it being three to one. He feels especially useless due to his lack of experience in the Force. If only there was a way to do to Kylo what had been done to them. Because of the meld, he knows Leda is attacking his mind and Saadi is attacking his physical being. If only there was a way Grievance could act as reinforcement for both forms of attack. Perhaps there is...

    Narrowing his focus to Kylo and only Kylo, forgetting about the collapsing structures around him, the cyborg seeks to know something--anything--the masked man knows that could be useful and learned quickly. Without being fully conscious of what he's doing, Grievance taps briefly into a knowledge draining ability and he manages to retrieve a scrap of something before encountering barriers he is too inexperienced to penetrate.

    One word, foreign to him and yet strangely familiar, rings in his mind. Crucitorn. He finds himself focusing on how much pain Kylo could be afflicted with should he weaken against what has already been fired at him from his three attackers. Blaster bolts penetrating his flesh like high-speed embers; fire melting his clothing and armor into his skin; a mental attack robbing him of the capacity to focus at all. Grievance can feel whatever he has initiated acting against the doubt that had first caused him to falter. He can feel this crucitorn--whatever it is--amplifying the attacks of his comrades. Maybe...just maybe...they still have a chance.


    Leda pushed into Ren’s mind with all her available might, strengthened by the dark side coursing through her, feeding off her pain and anguish. She felt him struggle against her and she latched onto the realization that her attack had been effective, if not altogether successful. She found an instant to smile wickedly, her feet carrying her forward and her saber re-igniting its pale yellow glow as she went. Never once breaking concentration on her mental attack, she noted Saadi leaping into action and chose to do the same.

    Still somewhat unsteady on her feet, she ran forth those last few feet and utilized the Force to get her there with unnatural speed. As the changeling went for what she assumed would be Ren’s chest, Leda cut low with a sweeping strike of her blade, aiming for his knees.


    The strain of the combined attack, normally three opponents would be handled with ease, but their use of force meld and working together was something Ren did not expect. Each of them had gone down one by one previously, with little resistance. Now a combined front, pressing back on him seemed to have turned the tide.


    The flames from the mechanical beast pressed, the intrusion into his mind, and the blaster bolts held at bay. All pressed further, as he held steady but was vulnerable…

    A rush forward from on of the Champions, a saber ignited and a strike at his chest. Ren had to react, the flames rush forward as he pulled away from the barrier he had created around his arm and saber. Bringing the red blade across poised to parry the direct strike at him. At that same moment, his mind went blank, a loss of focus for a second. A flash of images, confusing and incoherent, but at the center of them was himself in pain, injured, reeling, and defeated. The moment lasted a blink, but it took his focus off on matters more important. The tip of a saber aimed at him protruded towards his high guard and slide within such. Even as his saber came across to parry it, the stabbing strike seamed to slide across his blade upward the tip moving closer. Out of the corner of his eye he next saw her, the young woman. She was nearly upon him as well a yellow saber ignited as she moved in low. The sight of rage and anger on her face as she yelled, her saber sweeping low on him with an equally furious rage as that on her face. Behind the dark black and silver helmet, Ren’s eyes grew wide as a dangerous realization came upon him. Control seemed to slip away from him.

    The blaster bolts as if released from a silent quiver all lurched forward in a massive barrage. The bolts of energy rang past Ren, Saadi, and Leda the majority of them flying past and hitting the black shadowy veil out in the abyss, their impacts dissipating in ripples one by one. A flurry of bolts however hit Ren, his shoulder and upper chest both took near direct hits with a third bolt grazing his side. The tip of Saadi’s lightsaber plunged into Ren’s helmet, sheering, and melting durasteel and composites instantly, as Ren lurched away from the impact. The force of such wrenching the helmet free of his head as his long black hair fell down, exposed. Leda’s saber clipped Ren square in the closest knee instantly slicing and cauterizing through tissue and bone. The knee handing by a thread as his weight on it caused him to buckle and fall down to his knees completely.

    Bleeding from his chest and should Ren was leaning forward, his head drooping forward. A long gasp as he struggled to breath in air, on of the blasters strikes perhaps having hit on of his lungs. The left side of his face bore a large gash from Saadi’s saber strike, the black and seared skin showing a bit of jaw bone.

    The lightsaber in his right hand was still held firm at first, though his grip seemed to be slipping as his arm fell down limp. The saber slipped out of his grasp and dis-ignited to his side.

    Still trying to draw in breaths and keep from passing out, Ren was struggling to remain. The crumbling cliff continued slide into the abyss, now near a critical juncture with very little of the ground under the Champions feet remaining.

    The bridge beyond Ren was still intact, its path leading in the shadowy veil above the dark abyss in front of them.

    A course breath escaping Ren’s mouth as a wheezing sound emanated from him.

    ‘You… you… think you can escape?’

    A blood-filled cough dripped from his mouth.

    ‘Paaath…’

    Another bloody cough as Ren’s breathing turned to panting as his chest was convulsing.

    ‘This… path….’

    ‘not… way… you… think!’

    One of Ren’s eyes was filling with blood, as his chest, side, and shoulder wounds were oozing blood. His other injuries from Leda and Saadi culminating in him on the verge of death.

    The killing blow was needed. No mercy.

    Such had to be quick as they had mere seconds before everything underfoot collapsed… the bridge to their release laid just ahead.

    It was time to end this nightmare and finish their journey in this hell.


    As their unified attack comes to fruition, Grievance almost loses his focus marveling at how they have actually gained some ground against their opponent. Finally. One of the cruel faces behind all this torture is disheveled with agony and fear for a change.

    As Kylo Ren insists on speaking in his sad and sorry state of being, the cyborg narrows his eyes in pure annoyance. No. Not annoyance. It's far more intense than that. His eyes are narrowed in raw hatred. He storms forward with deadly purpose in his step as he closes the distance between himself and Kylo in three long strides where he lands a vicious kick square in the man's chest, slamming him against what remains of the crumbling wall behind him and holding him there with his talons, slowly bearing his weight down upon him as he echoes what Kylo himself had said to him only a few moments ago.


    "Enough words from you."

    There is the "snap-hiss" of a lightsaber igniting followed by the deadly crimson hue casting an ominous glare. Killing Kylo swiftly is mercy the man does not deserve, but this isn't about mercy. This is about setting himself and his comrades free to move on out of this hellhole they have been battling through for Force only knows how long it's been now. Grievance would love to crush this man's ribs into his spine and let him die slowly as each of them have died a thousand deaths to get here...but that would take time they do not have to spare. So without ceremony, the cyborg retracts his talons and delivers the coup de grâs of his forked lightsaber straight through Kylo's chest, very likely piercing a lung with each prong. In anger, he twists the hilt, jabbing one prong downward and the other upward before disengaging the plasma blades and backing away.

    "Even that was too good for you," he growls, turning on his heel and facing the bridge. They are only steps away from the end of this now and as his awareness returns to the surroundings once again, he realizes they still have imminent collapse to contend with before they can get out of here. He calls out two words to his comrades as he charges toward the bridge: "Let's go!"

    His awareness of the others fades from his consciousness as he begins his own crossing and experiences a desperation he has never known before. Deep. Penetrating. A hollow ache of longing for one thing and one thing only: to put the yawning abyss between himself and this awful nightmare. The bridge itself is unstable under his weight, but that does not stop him or slow him down, spurred on by his desperation to reach the other side. So close. They are so close...


    Darth Saadi held his saber aloft in a two-handed grip, glaring hatefully at the now unmasked Ren, who was immediately bent low as Leda's blade struck him viciously in the leg.

    The hellish wind continued to swirl rocks, dirt, and other debris, blood even, around the four figures in a nightmarish cacophony of degradation. For a moment time seemed to stop completely, becoming irrelevant.

    Suddenly sensing the cyborg's rapid approach, the changeling observed him cautiously, remaining in his combat stance, as Vexx launched Kylo into the wall with a furious kick. Saadi glanced briefly at Leda and nodded, then turned his head back to watch Vexx pierce Ren's lungs with his lightsaber.

    Deactivating his weapon and placing it carefully on his belt, the clawdite breathed deeply. Was Ren finally gone?

    He began making haste towards the ominous bridge that lay ahead; the hellish world surrounding them continuing to fall away with no end in sight. Snatching a quick look at Kylo's corpse as he passed by, Darth Saadi couldn't help but wonder what lay beyond the veil of the black abyss ahead. He, for one, needed water soon, and lots of it, or his journey might end up being for naught.


    For a fleeting moment, Leda tasted the sweet thrill of victory.

    Her blade had struck flesh and bone, slicing in deep enough to cause Ren to stumble down to a single knee beside where she had landed. She herself was kneeling, breathing steady while she still had her tedious hold on the darkness, the Force continuing to aid her battered body and mind. She clutched to her anger at this… man, her hatred for his interference in her progress – however unsure of it she had been. It kept her focused and alive, and as she stared the masked creature down she nearly brought her blade up and over in a cross-strike that would have decapitated him cleanly.

    She was robbed of this plan however, the cyborg snatching up the injured Ren and hammering him against the wall nearby, removing him from her reach.

    Fragging machine, she thought scornfully, climbing to her feet. She was unsteady already but the increasing quakes and tremors, the rocks tumbling and splintering all around them made it even worse. It was high time she fled this tomb. Bringing a hand up to her brow and wiping the sweat away from her eyes, she began to step back towards the bridge. Their perilous predicament aside, she wanted to be sure she witnessed Kylo’s death even if she wasn’t the one to do it.

    A smirk crossed her lips as the deed was done, allowing herself an instant to savor his demise… but that was all she could permit.

    Turning on her heels, Leda chased after Vexx and Saadi across the bridge and straight at the thick black fog that blocked their exit from view. It never crossed her mind what fresh hell the abyss might hold, all her mind could think on was that it would all be over soon.


    Tag: dragonsith13 QueenSabe7 Dagobahsystem
    Honorable Judges: Sinrebirth Darth_wanderguard Lady Belligerent E. L.Knight Darth Kronos
     
  4. dragonsith13

    dragonsith13 Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Apr 3, 2005
    Tournament of Darkness
    A bridge is a span between two points, having a beginning and an end… the Darkside, is not such a thing…

    Level 7
    The Champions charged forward, summoning what strength they had left. The trill of a victory perhaps spurring them on. Defeating the Master of the Knights of Ren, heir to the Darkside. Grandson of Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith.

    The crumbling cliff behind them, closed off the exit of the maze they had emerged from when coming upon Ren. The one who had stood in their way of the end of this nightmare. Behind them his body lay motionless, lifeless, dead… as it slid into the abyss along with the crumbling outcroppings, tossed away like trash. The bridge that once had been connected to the same cliff buckled at the beginning. As the lack of support, began to show strain. The bridge already seemed unnaturally suspended, but that seemed to have reached its limit as well as the bridge starting at where it had separated form the cliff began to give way and crumble in a cascading effect that began chasing the Champions as the approached and entered the shadowy veil out above the abyss they now crossed.

    The mist was thick, and even though they could see the bridge below. Their visibility was limited to a few feet ahead of them, causing them to tread and continue carefully. Afforded little time, the slow rumble of crumbling rock, was audible. Placing and reminding them of the realization that the bridge under their feet was slowly crumbling its own way towards them. They had to press on and quickly.

    Eerie, silent, stale could easily describe the mist. While dark in manner, flashes of violet and red hues surrounded them. Like a breathing entity the mist seemed to have a flow unto it, unnaturally following and wrapping around the Champions individually at times. Chasing and catching them, offering little resistance. The manifestation of a claw like wisp of cloud wrapping around each of them occasionally.

    Grasping at them, becoming thicker, the flashes seemed to take on a more rhythmic pattern, a low thunderous vibration, which also seemed to correspond. Like a low rumbling thunder… but not exactly such. More controlled rhythmic, beating… like a heart. The mist swirled moving in on the Champions further as they continued to traverse running at times. The previously innocent clasping hands, became more violent. Forceful offering more resistance. Hindering their advancement.

    Vexx, Leda, and Saadi would all feel impacts like fists punching, claws scrapping as they held and slowed them down. Struggling to progress as it became more oppressive.

    They had to fight it… not like this. They could not die after coming so far.

    ‘You will not become Sith!’

    A voice echoed through the mist. Seeming to come from everywhere.

    ‘Failed apprentices!’ A second voice spoke, this one equally loud.

    ‘Worthless!’ A third different voice.

    A visage emerged from the mist rushing towards them a larger form of a cloaked figure, lurching and hurling force lightning at them. Darth Sidious. Past them disappearing into the mist on the other side of them.

    A second figure clad in a scale like armor, charged forward out of nowhere brandishing a lightsaber and swinging it attempting to cleave them all down where they stood, it too disappearing into the mist. Darth Bane.

    A third figure continued the assault laughing with sinister scream as she A trio of purple lightsabers all slashing and cascading amongst the Champions as she spun away into the mist. Darth Traya

    The attacks were not fully what they could have been, mental images and attacks on their psyche. Still the mental pain and breaking of focus would be devastating, enough to cause anyone to cower in fear and succumb.

    The assaults continued, more of them…more voices. More attacks. Piercing pain through their skulls. Clawing at their wills. The pain inflicted upon them in the previous levels was nothing compared to the onslaught they now faced.A gauntlet of millennia upon millennia of Sith and darksiders. Each taking their shot at the Champions.

    The behemoth Marka Ragnos clasping at their heads with his massive hands…

    Another figure clad in armor and dress, a red and gold mask. A massive wave of energy pushed at them. Darth Revan.

    A light whip emerged from nowhere as a high-pitched laughing woman spun amongst them grasping each of them by the throat with the whip and tugging at them. Lumiya.

    The faces and accounts of the figures as the came and went, whether know exactly to the Champions or not would be of a near likeness, a misty aura around each, though this did not diminish their likeness to the living breathing beings of the past.

    Exar Kun…
    Ludo Kressh…
    Darth Krayt…
    Darth Vitiate…
    Darth Maul…
    Darth Zannah
    Naga Sadow…
    King Adas…

    A chorus of laughter and indiscernible language flooded the mist echoing… mocking them, chanting, and rising in volume as the assaults came one after another. Each one seeming to sap their last vestiges of will and steal their very souls… the figures seeming to swirl above them in the mist like vultures, shadowy wraiths all waiting to take their chance to swoop down upon the Champions in a never ending cyclone of pain and torment. As they number in the hundreds…

    A loud distinct breath was heard, a deep mechanical breathing crescendoing, giving way and letting out in a mechanical bellowing exhale. A dark clad figure in full armor stood in front of them all, as the mist seemed to thin out offering more visibility. Darth Vader.

    A gloved fist rose towards them all. Each of them instantly being lift off their feet, the tightness in their throats becoming oppressive as they would all be gasping for air.

    ‘You don't know... the POWER of the DARKSIDE.’

    This was it…

    No strength left… was this worth it? Clearly… doubt had no room in their heads currently.

    What they sought, was not a mere challenge, nor a cup or prize…

    The manifestation of Vader which seemed all too real, disappeared swept up into the mist disappearing. Taking its place among the countless above…
    The Champions fell, released from the Dark Lord’s grip, lurching and crashing to the ground, gasping and clawing at the ground trying to regain the feel of air in their lungs.

    How they were managing to continue was beyond comprehension.

    The three seemed to all gain their feet one at a time, stumbling forward the mist seemed to be breaking… as an end seemed to be near in sight. The three of them limping and stumbling forward… this was it as the mist seemed to part…

    It was the end.

    The trio stood together staring into a void. There was no end. The stone bridge that they had been traversing, enduring torment and pain… simply ended…

    There was nothing there. The rock and stone just came to an end and that was it, there was a void of dark shadow ahead. With no way to move forward.

    A dead end.

    The once distance crumbling sound of the bridge grew louder, the coming doom and end. No escape.

    Then they heard the footsteps.

    ‘WE’RE NOT DONE YET.’ The all too familiar voice from before. That of Kylo Ren. Standing behind them having emerged from the mist. His crackling and sparking crimson lightsaber at his side.

    Before anything else transpired though it was over… the crumbling bridge gave way having finally caught up to the Champions. Ren faded into the mist like all the others… and a momentary weightless sensation was felt by the trio of Champions, as the ground under their feet gave way and they all fell. Down into the abyss, swallowed up.

    Leda, Vexx, and Saadi…

    Falling into darkness…












    The depth of darkness to which you can descend and still live is an exact measure of the height to which you can aspire to reach.
    ~Unknown


    Bright light, the sound of wind.

    Grit… subtle pellets of grit hitting their faces. Sand.

    Saadi, Leda, and Vexx lay prone face down in reddish orange sand. The baking heat of a sun high above offering a warmth foreign to them given their previous hours, nay days in the maze.

    The whipping sound of wind continued. Each of them on their own coming to their senses and the realization that they were somewhere different.
    The last sensation each of them felt was a near everlasting falling.

    Now warmth, heat, wind had replaced the cold oppressive dark.

    In front of them a pair of boots visible, giving way to the figure of Draconis standing in front of them.

    A long pause as the trio worked to individually gather themselves… Draconis looked on curiously, amused. Eager. If any of them had bothered to notice, to look beyond the boots…

    As Draconis began to speak… The inflection in his voice, the tone… familiar to the Champions. Eerily known…

    ‘So.’

    ‘We are here now.’

    ‘YOU are here now…’Draconis’ head reeled back slightly taking in a breath of air as he drew in a deep breath and composed his next statement.

    ‘We were all like you once.’ Draconis spoke in a general vague tone, as if reflecting on some distance memory of the past. His words directed at Saadi, Vexx, and Leda. ‘Full of hope, ideals, passion… thinking we could harness the galaxy… craving power and ascension to a higher order.

    Promotion, recognition… acknowledgement.’Each word that Draconis said hanging, letting it ring in the ears and receptors of the trio, fatigued and near breaking in front of him… in front of this maze.

    ‘Acknowledgment. From one’s Master.’ Draconis emphasizing the words directed at Leda, his eyes barely visible from under the cowled hood, met Leda’s like daggers into her soul. His head rocking back slightly as he got closer to her face. “Too busy wandering in an underground playground?’

    His eye’s next wandering to Vexx’s whom would feel a sharp pain clenching his chest, originating from Draconis as he stepped close to the Kaleesh warrior. ‘Rejected apprentice.’Draconis muttered before quickly tuning away.

    Moving close to Saadi, his gaze coming about as he turned to see the hopeful. Draconis voice sad, mocking almost… ‘And Saadi.’Draconis shook his head slowly, showing a false compassion. ‘Poor, poor Saadi. Where is your Master?’

    With all three of them he never gave them a moment to respond or react, he simply moved on. Pushing and prodding them.

    He finally came back about in front of all three of them. Standing to address them.
    ‘Look at you three.’ Draconis spoke with a seemingly heartfelt but false compassion.
    ‘You can barely stand…’

    In front of them was the maze, they were at the beginning. The exact same façade as when they had entered. The high towering worn stone walls. The words spoke, the exact same as when… they had started the maze…

    Draconis looked upon them as if eager to START the final phase of the tournament.

    Grinning with satisfaction as the previous rounds had been stellar and entertaining.

    ‘Are you just going to stand there and bleed Vexx?

    Leda? Saadi?’

    His tone was almost absent, innocent as if he had no idea… what the three of them had already…

    This was the beginning of the maze and time to crown the new Champion of the Knights of Darkness and they just lay and sit there, struggling to gather themselves…. Draconis was stunned… Abhorring behavior given the prestigious honor afforded them of finishing the final round and participating in the maze…

    The moment seemed to linger, as he paced amongst them… silently observing… they were beaten, bloodied, battered…

    Through this again? There was no way…

    Draconis let their minds wander, their thoughts dwell on what had transpired and what might be developing… this cruel-cruel ordeal…

    Let it fester and take hold and bring doubt to what had transpired and if it had in fact… weren’t there bruises and blood enough evidence… but nonetheless here they were… at the beginning… AGAIN.

    The silence, broken only by the soft wind whipping across the landscape, the occasional sound of gritty sand, rubbing and hitting their bodied, blown by a wisp of wind. The shuffling and steps of Draconis’ boots in the sand. Subtle but present and looming amongst them.

    It was then that the footsteps stopped, Draconis stood amongst the three, of equal distance as they all were in close proximity. Crouching down Draconis sought to catch each of the Champions ears.

    ‘We’re not done yet.’The words were softly spoken, almost whispered to them, but resonated as they were the exact words spoken by The Master Kylo Ren. The realization that Draconis knew, that he knew, he was in on it. The Triumverate, Ebon Knights, and the Headmaster all knew… the hellish nightmare was not a dream… they had gone through before and yet they were here at the beginning again and they, the ruling and governing bodies of the Dark Empire of the Sith all knew! They expected it!

    Draconis let it linger, let the feeling soak in.

    Remaining crouched amongst them for a few moments more, before rising, his dark robes fluttering in the dessert wind.

    ‘Make your choice Champions.’Draconis said with all seriousness, in a commanding confident and yet sinister voice… as he stared as the entrance to the maze himself… eluding to their LEFT, CENTER, RIGHT choice to be made.

    Draconis stepped forward… leaving the trio. The whipping sand masking him slightly as he made his way into the maze himself. Disappearing. Entering it willingly himself as if familiar and welcoming it.

    Leda, Vexx, and Saadi were left alone. Around them a vast dessert like before, no way of turning back. They had two choices.

    Stay there and Die or enter the maze… and make a choice.

    Kaleesh-Cyborg, QueenSabe7, Dagobahsystem

    Honorable Judges: @Sinrebirth @Darth_wanderguard @Lady Belligerent @Darth Kronos @E. L.Knight
     
  5. Dagobahsystem

    Dagobahsystem Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Sep 25, 2015
    Tournament of Darkness
    Level 7 (continued)

    IC: Darth Saadi

    The Bridge

    The whole became half. Then thirds. Then quartered. And onward, always downward. Subdividing itself into ever tinier pieces. Smaller, smaller and smaller. A seemingly endless downward spiral.
    Such was the state of Saadi's sanity as he stared ahead into the darkness while crossing the failing bridge.

    Whether or not Vexx lay ahead or Leda behind or vice versa, or whether they were both indeed dead, the clawdite knew not; concentrating solely on placing one boot in front of the other to traverse this darkness was all Saadi could manage to concentrate on aside from the dehydration driving him to madness. Whether or not his infected left arm was still attached or not, he could not even remember. His dry, bloodshot eyeballs stared straight ahead in search of the path that might free him from this tortuous insanity.

    Clangs of discord rang throughout his mind. Phantoms appeared before him. Pizzicato strings stabbed at his neurons. Force lightning burning his flesh. A lightsaber removed pieces of his prefrontal cortex. Another massive hand began crushing the changeling's skull in a furious drum like snap. Swirling chromaticism crushed his heart, whipping it cruelly, stabbing at the main artery.
    Phantoms he recognized and others he only knew of were pulverizing the remnants of his mind. Mocking laughter and the stings of swarming death angels swirled in a chaotic chorus of hateful oblivion.

    Saadi's last memory of his former self was seeing the Sith Lord Darth Vader and then instantly feeling his throat slowly closing shut, tapped out like the swirling notes of a horrific celeste melody. Then the cymbal crashed and he knew not himself any longer.

    Collapse

    An endless feeling of falling ensued in which there was no other sensation but neverending tumbling through the blackness of space in which one had no identity, no memory, no meaning, no connections and most of all, no hope.

    Awakening?



    The orange red sand filled every open space on the clawdite's once clean face. Lying face down in the desert, Saadi raised his head and coughed sand out of his mouth and shuddered as he tried to open his eyes, the sand infiltrating his dried sockets. His head collapsing to the side and back down to the desert floor, the changeling gasped for air like a beached fish, his nostrils completely mutilated and now clogged from the nasty particles.

    And there he lay on his stomach. Head facing to the left, right arm stretched out beyond his head, left arm draped useless next to his shrunken body. Time passed.

    Saadi, once known as a fierce and cunning assassin, was now unable to raise his head out of the dirt.

    Time passed. Saadi thought he heard a voice, but he did not know whose, although he recognized it, sadly. It was not a voice he wished to ever hear again! It got louder and quieter although he could not understand all of the words and the volume seemed to fluctuate and the tone changed with what appeared to be ominous footsteps.

    Saadi heard a name he recognized spoken by this hateful voice. He closed his eyes and tried to remember who Saadi had been. Was this someone he knew? Was this someone he had killed? He was terribly confused and suffering greatly.

    He heard a command to choose a direction and felt the presence of the creature walk by him. Craning his head, he saw something entering a maze.

    The maze.

    Suddenly, there was something akin to recognition, however transitory.

    Saadi grabbed at the sand with his right hand and pulled himself forward on the ground. Looking up, he saw it again. The maze! Reaching out with right hand again, he pulled himself towards the maze. He must get there! Pulling again with his right arm, Saadi was slowly getting closer to the maze. It never occurred to him to try and walk; his mind was in no state for that type of rational thinking, nor was he in any physical shape to attempt to stand, or so it seemed. Again, he pulled at the sand, his body trailing behind. Inching ever closer to the maze. It was calling him. It was his destiny. The maze. Again, his right hand grabbed a fistful of sand and pulled. He began to develop a rhythmic pattern to the stretching of his arm and the pulling of sand, coupled with his breathing in and out. Again. In and out. Reach. Pull. Again. In. Out. Reach. Pull. Sand. Everywhere. Terrifying dissonant melodies played in his head as he repeated the ritual.

    Resting as he approached the maze entrance, Saadi lay his head on the sand facing left.

    "I choose the center," he said, as he began pulling himself with his right hand back into the absolutely wonderful and entirely real living nightmare that was now his life.

    Tags: QueenSabe7 Kaleesh-Cyborg

    Honorable Judges: Sinrebirth Darth_wanderguard Lady Belligerent dragonsith13 E. L.Knight Darth Kronos
     
  6. Kaleesh-Cyborg

    Kaleesh-Cyborg Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jan 4, 2017
    Grievance Vexx
    Tournament of Darkness - Level 7
    Fleeing the Nightmare


    As the ground collapses beneath Grievance, Saadi, and Leda, the cyborg is swallowed up in desperation. He is so very tired; he knows the others are too. And yet here they are, running for what is left of their exhausted, battered, starving, and dehydrated lives. One might think a creature who, by appearances, is little more than a droid would be immune to fatigue, but far be that from the truth. It takes a great deal of mental energy to control a purely mechanical body under routine circumstances. This has indeed stretched him far beyond routine function.

    He can feel parts of the ground falling away under him. He doesn't even give a second thought to what becomes of Kylo Ren's corpse. He doesn't care. His only thought is to get far away from this place of pain, torment, and fear. Yet fear looms directly before him as the mist engulfs him and his fellow Knights, robbing him of sight and disorienting him to a point of near panic. He battles his own fear, threatening to push him over the edge of sanity. He starts to feel as though his sanity is slipping again as the mist seems to come alive, pulling and clawing at him; icy fingers finding their way through cracks in his armor and draining all warmth from his blood; a grasp trying to hold him in place so the earth can swallow him alive. Then come the voices and the surreal attacks of ghosts from the past.

    Grievance recognizes very few of the Sith that swarm over them with taunts and violence. Force lighting scorches his circuits and becomes an unwanted companion clinging to his metal structure long after Darth Sidious fades away. The other Sith Lords don't matter. He has never really cared to know much about any who had nothing to do with what had happened to his father. They themselves mean nothing to him, but somehow their demeaning words have an impact on his mind. Failure stabs at his soul and he wishes he could deafen himself to all of it. He almost gives in to madness...but then he hears a sound he knows all to well.

    Mechanical breathing. And it is not his own. At first, he is reminded of Reiis, who also was cursed to a life dependent on machines. Then the figure manifests itself; Darth Vader. The iconic Sith is one Grievance recognizes easily enough. He starts to reach for his lightsabers, expecting the legendary Sith Lord to be another opponent intent on blocking their path and stalling their progress, but his hands go from reaching for his weapons to desperately reaching for his own throat. Though he no longer possesses the anatomy of his comrades, he is not immune to being choked or strangled. The Force clamps with fearsome strength around the tubing that takes blood and oxygen to and from his brain, lifting all three hundred and fifty pounds of him up off the ground. While his clawed hands grope to pry the unseen grip off his throat, his deadly talons slice through the air in vain, seeking purchase that simply isn't there.

    Panic overwhelms him. This is not the honorable death he had hoped for, making hideous animalistic sounds as he fights for a gasp of oxygen, flailing helplessly in an invisible grasp like a hunted beast caught in a snare, gasping and slobbering all over himself. But just as suddenly, the panic dissipates and he finds himself hoping this will be the end. To hell with his honor. He just wants to die and forever leave this place. He can feel the darkness enveloping him; not the dark side, but the darkness that is death itself coming to finally give rest to the Kaleesh warrior encased in a living metal coffin. It cannot come fast enough...

    CRASH! Awareness of reality returns to him as Grievance is suddenly released and drops to the ground; coughing, gasping, wheezing. Reduced to a convulsing heap of metal gulping air greedily, he barely remembers that the ground is still falling out under him as he lurches to his feet and hacks again, trying desperately to regain function of his airway. Broken, disoriented, and feeling weaker than ever, he staggers after his comrades, his talons scraping along the bridge; he no longer has the strength to pick up his feet. The mist parts into nothingness. This is the end and there is nowhere to go. He almost doesn't mind letting the ground take him down into the abyss. The weightless sensation of falling brings a peculiar sense of euphoria...and then blackness.

    And then...

    Bright light burns through his eyelids. Perhaps it is finally over and he is dead. Warmth bathes his dinged, pitted, dirty armor, reaching through to his organic remains. He could almost believe he really has died, but then there is the grit of sand catching in his cybernetic joints. He hadn't expected the afterlife to be full of sand. Nor had he expected to still be contained in a cybernetic exoskeleton. Perhaps he has somehow ended up back on Kalee. Now there's a pleasant thought. He doesn't want to open his eyes; Force knows he would rather be wherever his mind paints him to be, but he can sense a presence of authority and it is very close.

    The voice of the Headmaster is actually one the cyborg takes comfort in for its familiarity alone even though it's a clear indicator he has not magically wound up on his home planet. After all the strange things he has experienced, he finds a sense of reassurance in Draconis's voice. He knows he should rise, but he can't find the strength to do so. Listening to the man speak, his voice, once a comforting familiarity, becomes so familiar that it is downright unnerving. An intense feeling of deja vu leaves Grievance with a sense of dread and confusion as his eyes snap open to immediately fix on the boots of the Headmaster not even an arm's length away from his face.

    Splitting his arms to give himself more leverage with which to rise, he is reminded that instead of four, he now only has three and a half arms, one lost from the elbow down to the blade of Kylo Ren. It can't be deja vu or a dream. It had to have happened. Or...did he lose the arm to the beating he had received before being imprisoned? He can't rightly remember. Sand grinds in his joints and catches in his respirator, evoking a painful-sounding cough that causes sparks to fly from his mouth grate. He almost collapses from the sheer violence of the fit before it subsides and he hears Draconis beckon them to make a choice. Grievance lurches forward, spitting a few distorted Kaleesh curses under his breath as he lunges to try and grab Draconis's cloak before the Headmaster gets out of reach. He curses again as he falls on his face in the sand after his failed attempt to stop Draconis, but he gets right back up and staggers after the Headmaster as he approaches the maze.


    "Deceitful wraith!" he snarls, his voice distorted by that infernal sand caught in his cybernetics, "Do you think we are stupid? Darth Saadi, do not be misled. We have already been through there and endured to the end." His furious gaze fixes on Draconis. "And I would be a fool to let you lure me into that a second time."

    Anger burns in the cyborg's yellow eyes as he stares unblinking at Draconis. He wishes he had the strength to beat the living hell out of him, but more than that, he wishes the man wasn't a superior so that he actually could beat the hell out of him and get away with it. Despite his rage, his diehard sense of honor and respect for authority returns and he looks toward the maze, then back at Draconis, the sand-laden wind whipping his tattered cloak like a banner still flying after a hell of a war. The Kaleesh warrior, though still angered by the unexpected "end" of this trial, bows respectfully to the Headmaster.

    "I have no desire to revisit this place," he says solemnly, "But if I must, you should know that I made up my mind the first time I entered and my choices will remain the same. I will start with the center just as before. You will receive no new entertainment from my end. I am afraid it would only be a rerun, m'lord. Pain is a harsh guide and suffering, a teacher without mercy, but I have learned their lessons well and the honor of walking with them again supersedes my anger toward you in what I perceive to be a cruel game."

    Straightening and squaring his shoulders with whatever dignity he has left, Grievance Vexx watches Draconis disappear into the maze and the cyborg moves to stand before his own chosen entryway. He looks as though a stiff breeze could knock him down. Every slow and deliberate breath rattling with trapped sand seems to rock his entire frame. How he is still standing and able to mentally command his heavy limbs to obey him is a wonder; however, in this moment, he can literally feel the weight of self-doubt fall away. Whether his path was right or wrong in the eyes of the Sith does not matter. It had been the right path for him, custom tailored to bring him face-to-face with his own weakness and the solution to abolish the weakness. It had been nothing short of painful; torturous to mind, body, and spirit equally. He had seen what he had been and what he could become. He had embraced the latter by his own choosing and though his body is fatigued and in pain, there is an inner strength he can feel pulsing through his veins and it glistens as a dim spark under the haze of weariness in his eyes; the heartbeat of the Force.

    Tag: dragonsith13 QueenSabe7 Dagobahsystem
    Honorable Judges: Sinrebirth Darth_wanderguard Lady Belligerent E. L.Knight Darth Kronos
     
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  7. QueenSabe7

    QueenSabe7 Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Mar 23, 2001
    IC: Leda
    Tournament of Darkness: The End

    Leda ran as fast as her unsteady legs could move, each step causing increasing pain to shoot up into her already broken parts. Her pull on the dark side and the aid that it had given her slipped away the further she progressed along the crumbling bridge, dodging falling rock and stone as she went deeper into the mist. She couldn’t maintain her tenuous hold on her focus and her drive, her anger melting into distracting fear and panic as she felt the walls begin to close in on her.

    It was all beyond her control, always had been. There was nothing to be done to stop this inevitable ending, she understood now. It still left her feeling as if she were spiraling away from everything she had learned and knew, leaving her feeling helpless. Useless. Expendable.

    Leda loathed the feeling of being discarded and buried as if she were already dead.

    Not. Yet.

    Her dwindling rage spiked suddenly at this realization and once more she surged forward, trailing her opponents and one-time comrades. Her burning eyes squared in on Saadi, then Vexx. Yes, they had come together to beat their greatest obstacle thus far, but now as they ran against the coming collapse of this dreaded hell hole… they were once more standing against one another. She had half a mind to push them both into the abyss below and be done with it, leaving her to emerge the lone victor. Her Master would certainly be proud…

    It was then that the thickening fog lit up with crackling lightning, attacking her from all sides… as she would have been stupid to not expect at this stage. Howling threats and taunts from powerful Sith of the past that were both known and unknown to her, their presences lashing out both physically and mentally, weighing her down and attempting to keep her from breaking free of this constant torment. She tried to remain light on her feet but stumbled more times than not, her hands clutching the sides of her head as she gritted her teeth against their combined might.

    The same pressure in her mind she felt upon first stepping foot into the maze increased tenfold; she was sure her skull would crack and crush inward because of the strain. Their sheer power and strength in the Force was almost unbearable and indeed it was, slowing her gait down to a haphazard trot. Still Leda pushed forth but as suddenly as she thought she would die right then and there, she was swept off her feet by her neck, a crushing force applied to her airway.

    A ringing in her ears… a mechanical sound following… breathing… stars popping in and out of her vision. A booming voice shouted words she couldn’t quite focus on as she gasped for oxygen she so desperately needed. She was so close to the exit! To freedom! To a kriffing shower!! The warrior reached out at nothing in particular, envisioning the warmth of the sun just beyond her fingertips…

    The pressure released and she collapsed to her knees in a rough heap, coughing and gagging as air rushed into her lungs. Whatever had happened had ended just as quickly as it set on and she threw her head up and prepared to lurch back to her feet, eager to keep moving on her way. What her eyes were met with dashed any hope she had of escape, however and she simply sat back down in astonishment. In defeat.

    An impenetrable wall of rock faced her.

    There was no way out. The bridge, now cracking violently beneath her, ended in nothing. They were trapped.

    “I suppose it’s time to die,” she whispered just as the rock finally broke and she began her decent into the void below.

    ***

    A pleasant feeling, odd that it was indeed pleasant, washed over Leda’s senses and muddled awareness. She was sure she was dead this time – like, for real dead - her body feeling as weightless and without any mortal agony just as it had once the black abyss swallowed her whole. But... she could still feel. Sensation returned to her extremities bit by bit, her torn and bloodied fingers brushing against a soft surface, one that her cheek was also pressed upon. She peeled her eyes open and squinted against the absurdly bright light that her vision was met with. Sand. Red sand, much like the particles that had stretched out before her at the beginning…

    Wait.

    Before she could move, her avoidance of discomfort ended as memories and pain flooded into her mind and body. The warrior groaned against the realization that it had all actually happened. Every horror and impossible choice had been real. And yet, she survived. It was immediately apparent that both Saadi and Vexx had as well, their signatures on the Force still burning bright nearby. And there was another more intimate presence that was like an inferno in her mind…

    Draconis.

    Leda did not understand, but she raised her head to meet the form of her Master despite her confusion. His words came in and out of her range of hearing, her ears still ringing with the loud violence from the collapse. As the Ebon Knight directed a taunt directly her way, she recognized the repeated phrase from before, at the start. She furrowed her brow and managed to slide up to her knees, cocking her head to the side as she tried to decipher the meaning of this moment.

    “We’re not done yet,” her Master whispered, a chill running up her spine to take purchase in her heart. She knew.

    “Make your choice Champions.”

    At the command, Leda turned to the side and retched, heaving twice in disgust. He wanted them all to return to the nightmarish HELL they had just managed to escape from, to do it all over again in some sick and sadistic repeating trial. Fragging insanity! There was no way!

    The bruised and battered blonde did not look to Draconis as he left them, she refused to lay eyes upon him at all for fear of acting out irrationally. She wouldn’t behave like an ill-tempered child even though she wanted to simply punch the ground and cry out in frustration. No, she knew better. She had to BE better than that. Right now, it was either live or die, a choice that had repeated many times over within the maze and just because they stood outside its walls now it did not mean that the choice was no longer important and necessary.

    Live or die. Stay or go. Give up or push on.

    There was only one correct answer.

    Leda wanted to live.

    With a grunt, she climbed to her feet and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. Redoing her matted hair into a high knot, she removed her tattered and torn outer robes and cast them aside. Checking for her saber at her side, she took a shaky breath and willed herself forward once more. She recalled her resolve the first time she strode into the unknown. It almost seemed foreign to her now… but she squared her shoulders and raised her chin nonetheless. Pausing briefly at the threshold, a tiny smirk played across her mouth.

    “Up for a round two?” she asked the labyrinth before proceeding down the center path exactly as she had at the start.


    TAGS: @Dagobahsystem @Kaleesh-Cyborg
    Honorable Judges: @Sinrebirth @Darth_wanderguard @Lady Belligerent @dragonsith13 @E. L.Knight @Darth Kronos
     
  8. dragonsith13

    dragonsith13 Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Apr 3, 2005
    Tournament of Darkness

    Aftermath
    The forgotten...

    The dark landscape was a formidable sight, the towering Temple and Academy complex taking up much of the horizon as the twilight sky began to bathe the area. Armor clad guards with pikes patrolled areas around the temple keeping guard while the Academy and Temple pulsed from within. Silent for the most part aside from a congratulatory celebration in the main hall. The completion of the ascension of several Knights, the order was growing stronger. Praises heaped upon them all for surviving and moving forward in the Tournament of Darkness. Praises heaped upon all of the tournament participants… except three who were not present. According to reports… they had not made it and survived. No one had heard from them in weeks, but the true survivors and victors of the Tournament were present.

    A pair of Sith Fighters screamed over the temple following a flight line across the surrounding temple landscape, passing over it while coming close to the ground as they followed their flight track beyond the outer reaches of the complex before breaking off and avoiding a large mountain that they were fast approaching. Positioned nearly a hundred kilometers away from the main complex was an offsite, hidden and known to very few except the upper echelons of the Sith Empire. The mountainous landscape that seemed to jut up from the flat plain seemed unnatural in of itself. The darker skies of a night approaching were beginning to crawl over the range, with a few flashes of lightning piercing the sky as the darker clouds drew closer and moved around the mountains. Up near the summit of one of them a facility was visible, as another pair of Sith fighters, broke off from a shuttle that had just landed on the main platform outstretched and suspended high above the landscape on the mountainside.

    A procession of guards, adorned in ceremonial garb, but armed with force pikes escorted a trio of medical capsules. As several hooded figures led them into the facility. The cracks of lightning grew more intense as the sun in the distance was near passing completely past the horizon. Offering only a faint goodbye to the day as the night took hold.

    The room was dimly lit, as a number of medical droids moved about servicing and attending to their duties. The sounds of an operating and busy medical facility abound, the mechanizations of a busy synchronized and determined symphony. All of them busy, attending to, and focused on three individuals.

    The glow and light of the three bacta tanks offered the majority of the light in the room, as the droids needed little to function. An eerie glow of faint light emanating from the three tanks, that were the focus of the room.

    In each of the tanks… wrapped minimally in medical garments, hooked up to hoses, and respirators were the three Champions.

    Saadi, Leda, and Vexx floated in their individual bacta tanks hooked up and plugged into all manner of medical monitoring devices. IVs and needles stuck into them throughout. Saadi’s and Leda’s near humanoid forms floated, as well as Vexx’s stripped down remaining body devoid of his armor.
    The steady underwater breathing and monitoring can be heard through the tank’s monitoring systems, as the Headmaster looked on. Silently observing them in their recovery state, from the shadows at the head of the facility onlooking the three bacta tanks with the Champions in them.

    The phalanx and first line of this young order.

    Quarters had been prepared for their recovery, allowing amenities and provisions befitting their silent accomplishment. No one would know that they were the true victors. Back at the temple the ranks of apprentices celebrated and were allowed liberty based upon a false narrative. Instilled to keep what was going on at present here hidden and secret. The three Champions would be taken care of for this brief moment, care taken to allow for their full recovery and beyond. In preparation of what would be asked of them in the future.


    Days would pass with them in their tanks recovering, preparing them to be able begin recovering physically and mentally.

    In front of each tank, specifically placed, were items handpicked for each of them. As each of them came to and became more aware they would be aware of hat was left behind for each of them.

    Vexx, his armor had been near pulverized during the ordeal. Though salvageable and not discarded. Care had been taken to duplicate, mimic, and amplify it. A new set, with several components lay beyond his tank. The make up of the grieves, chest plates, and other familiar armor components familiar in design and makeup, but different. This set had a near charcoal and black hue. The metal and composite forged in the darker armories of the temple. The armor seeming to have a life, feel, and vibe unto itself foreign to regular durasteel and materials. It is living and breathing. Waiting for a host, to bond with. Infusing the one who would don it with a strength and willpower to match the resolve of the individual, but would not let go without a fight and pain.

    Leda, battered and nearly broken physically during her passage through the maze. Caught on the verge defenseless, but never more. A pair of gold forearm bracers gleamed in front of here tank. Polished and prepared. Emanating from them was a calling for her to slide her arms into them. Made of an imbued and alchemically infused alloy, they were strong and defiant. Offering strength and swiftness. Capable of even deflecting multiple saber strikes without buckling. The bracers demanded only one thing. Inside them a sharp protruding spike, angled back. Anyone who placed them on their forearms and wrists would have to accept the penetration as the spike sank into their skin, linking them with the pain and sacrifice of blood for its gift of strength and speed.

    Saadi, beyond the physical depletion of what one could endure regarding a bodies capability. This is were Saadi had managed to hang on and endure. Thirst for skill as important as thirst itself. A simple box sat before him, on the pedestal in front of the tank. Inside a dismissed lesson, not deemed worthy and prevalent to advancement was discarded and seemingly lost to nearly all who came across it. I offered no protection nor physical gifts. Upon opening it, a melodic tune played. Softly, slowly and rhythmically. Going on and on. A dance and lesson to be heard to those willing to listen. Strike, parry, and slash. While is seemed simple the box was adorned with carved runes, ancient and indecipherable to the young apprentice at present. While no figure manifested like a traditional holocron, this item called and radiated energy and confidence to anyone willing to truly listen and not dismiss it. There was but one catch, the locket and opening clasp required one thing. The push mechanism, which once enabled would sting the box open and begin its deadly dance of melodic notes, had a single spike on it. There as no other way to depress the mechanism without pushing one’s finger or thumb onto it deep into ones tissue. The droplets of blood being sucked back into the device as if it fed of it. Activating and opening it to those willing to sacrifice.


    And that was it, the Headmaster took one last gaze after the items had been placed for when the Champions came aware. Exiting and awaiting their recovery and return to the ranks of the Knights of Darkness.

    Kaleesh-Cyborg, QueenSabe7, Dagobahsystem
     
  9. Dagobahsystem

    Dagobahsystem Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Sep 25, 2015
    IC: Darth 'Champion of the Knights of Darkness' Saadi
    mysterious, vacated area of which time has known well, but long forgotten by many, but not all.

    Serenading the serene and shallow pit with a sultry, sensuous song, ensured the changeling that his bold, beautiful, and beastly besties had vacated. They would have cried out in pure joy upon hearing Saadi's beautiful voice.

    Saadi was loathe to meet them here.
    Unbeknownst to all, the changeling found himself on hard times and was scrounging relics from the epic battle maze for salvage. Digging deeper, he found much metal here and there. A valued bracelet and other minor jewelry items elsewhere.
    A piece of ancient text deemed un page turner worthy, yet worth much.

    Saadi thought about Jawas and other scavengers he had heard about. Jakku was full of them, apparently. He smiled.
    No. He was stealing. Not scavaging. Not excavating. Not researching. This activity was making him stronger. Stronger with the dark side of the Force. He could feel it.

    The next time he met Vexx and Leda, they would know it to be true.
    And Lord Draconis? He already knew. [face_skull]

    Tags @dragonsith13 @QueenSabe7 @Kaleesh-Cyborg
     
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  10. Adalia-Durron

    Adalia-Durron WNU/Costume/Props/EUC Mod. star 10 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Jun 3, 2003
    IC Adalia Tehanis

    Enters the chamber in her robes calmly and surveys the area, gives a slight smile and nod.

    @Kyber Acyk please come in as I have asked a dear friend to give you some Dueling pointers. You may have seen her around the temple, meet @Rebecca_Daniels. Please learn all you can from her in the short time you will share here.

    TAG @Kyber Acyk @Rebecca_Daniels
     
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  11. Kyber Acyk

    Kyber Acyk Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Nov 30, 2017
    Kyber followed close behind Master Adalia, adjusted his robes and stood beside her. He had heard a lot about Master Adalia's friend and Kyber was ready to learn all that he could from her, so he could begin his journey.

    "I will learn all that I possibly can, Master," Kyber nodded and waited for his teacher to arrive.
     
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  12. Rebecca_Daniels

    Rebecca_Daniels Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Sep 3, 2006
    IC: Liuna Iotasi :bluesaber:

    The Padawan and Master were already in the training room before she arrived. In the darkness of the entrance, her black robes faded her form into the shadows before stepping out and approaching the pair. Stopping a few metres away from Padawan Kyber, Liuna lowered her hood and bowed, hands on her thighs, in greeting.

    "Master Adalia, Padawan Kyber," she acknowledged, much more warmly than her dark appearance might suggest. "I trust you've been preparing for this?" She glanced between the two, a slight smile dancing across her features as she stepped her right leg back into a defensive stance. "Whenever you're ready, Kyber." She drew her dual-bladed lightsaber but didn't light it, calmly waiting for the Padawan's opening move before making any decisions.

    TAG: @Kyber Acyk @Adalia-Durron

    OOC: Figure I'll get this going by heading straight into the duel itself, but I'll give you the opening move and we'll build from there ;)
     
  13. Dagobahsystem

    Dagobahsystem Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Sep 25, 2015
    IC: Saadi

    As he calmly directed the droid carrying away his newly found treasures, Darth Saadi turned to better hear voices in the distance.

    'Place the items on my ship. Quietly. Make haste, droid. You shall be remunerated.'

    Stepping into the fleeting shade of the nearest structural outcropping, Saadi shifted into the guise of a Weequay guard in order to better observe the proceedings untouched by the numerous Jedi that now seemed to overtake the miserable pit.

    Tag: nobody
     
  14. Kyber Acyk

    Kyber Acyk Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Nov 30, 2017
    Kyber saw Master Liuna moving into a defensive stance, thus the young Mandalorian drew his unlit training lightsaber and held it in the opening offensive stance of Shii-Cho. He took a few deep breaths to calm and centre himself before the duel began.

    "I am ready, Master Liuna," Kyber replied, his grip tightening around the hilt of the lightsaber and his right index finger hovering gingerly over the activation switch.
     
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  15. Rebecca_Daniels

    Rebecca_Daniels Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Sep 3, 2006
    IC: Liuna Iotasi :bluesaber:

    Liuna smiled a bit. "I'm no Master. I don't normally train Padawans, but your Master here is a good friend of mine." She glanced over at Adalia, off to the side. As she brought her eyes back to the Padawan opponent, without warning, she stepped forward into a Force-imbued leap, a well-practiced move of Ataru. Twisting as she closed the gap between the two, Liuna lit both sides of her cyan blade right before she came down, the force of the single downward strike enhanced by the weight of landing the jump.

    TAG: @Kyber Acyk @Adalia-Durron

    OOC: Generally a duel post follows a "reaction, action" structure. So defend yourself from my attack as needed, and then respond however you'd like. You also decide whether or not I hit, or how difficult it was to defend :)
     
    Last edited: Jan 19, 2018
  16. Kyber Acyk

    Kyber Acyk Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Nov 30, 2017
    OOC: Thank you for the tips Rebecca :) And I hope I reacted correctly; it has been a while since I have written lightsaber duels...

    ~

    IC: Kyber Acyk :bluesaber:

    Watching Liuna leaping through the air towards him, Kyber ignited the blue training lightsaber and immediately dodged the downward strike of Liuna's double-bladed lightsaber. He glanced at it for a split second in amazement at her mastery of it, before shifting into a disarming strike, focusing on getting the weapon out of her hands.

    Little did the young Mandalorian padawan know, but this was just the beginning of his lifelong journey to master the weapon.
     
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  17. Rebecca_Daniels

    Rebecca_Daniels Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Sep 3, 2006
    IC: Liuna Iotasi :bluesaber:

    She released one hand from her lightsaber, allowing the Padawan's attempt at disarming to partially succeed rather than resist it, and took a half-step back to give herself and her lightsaber more space. Spinning the dual blades with one hand, Liuna then brought her free hand back to the hilt and stabbed forward, aiming the tip at Kyber's midsection, testing his defenses.

    TAG: @Kyber Acyk @Adalia-Durron

    OOC: It looks good so far, you'll get the hang of it as you go on ;)
     
  18. Adalia-Durron

    Adalia-Durron WNU/Costume/Props/EUC Mod. star 10 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Jun 3, 2003
    IC Adalia Tehanis

    Watches carefully, and nods slowly as she appreciates Becca's Style and skill.

     
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  19. Kyber Acyk

    Kyber Acyk Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Nov 30, 2017
    IC: Kyber Acyk :bluesaber:

    Kyber stood his ground in front of Liuna and he held his lightsaber low horizontally across his midsection, giving himself some measure of protection. Shifting his feet back into an offensive stance, Kyber suddenly surged forward and used Shii-Cho's Sarlacc sweep to keep her on the defensive and not being able to launch another attack.
     
  20. Rebecca_Daniels

    Rebecca_Daniels Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Sep 3, 2006
    IC: Liuna Iotasi :bluesaber:

    The wide sweep Kyber made with his blade caused her to slide back a couple feet to avoid the tip of his training blade. Liuna then pushed off, jumping again in a forward somersault, the ton su ma of Ataru over his head while he was occupied. Landing behind him, she spun and directed a fast strike down towards his shoulder with the right end of her blade, then reversed and struck upwards towards his hip and midsection with the left end of her bright cyan dualsaber.

    TAG: @Kyber Acyk @Adalia-Durron
     
  21. Kyber Acyk

    Kyber Acyk Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Nov 30, 2017
    IC: Kyber Acyk :bluesaber:

    Kyber pivoted away from the double blades and faced Liuna once more. He moved swiftly moved into a series of Cho strikes while continuously moving forward, keeping her on the defensive and his movements gradually picked up speed. The blade became a flurry of blue light moving all over. And although he was performing the Cho strikes, Kyber did not want to deliberately hurt Liuna.
     
  22. Rebecca_Daniels

    Rebecca_Daniels Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Sep 3, 2006
    OOC: Some advice:
    Remember that this is meant to be a fun and fair duel-- and that your character is a Padawan still learning dueling against an experienced Knight who is holding back against you, not the other way around ;) I don't know if @Adalia-Durron has had you build a character yet, but that helps to keep track of strengths and weaknesses for duels such as these, because no one is all-powerful or perfect, as much as we may want to be :p For example, while my character Liuna focuses on combat, she would be in trouble against multiple enemies because both Ataru and Vapaad are single-target dueling forms. So for you, look at the strengths and weaknesses of Shii-Cho for ideas of where your character would be strong or weak, and you can use those to your advantage (yes, even the weaknesses!). As well, multiple strikes in a post is fine, but what you're describing comes close to "godmoding" or "autohitting" which is deciding what my character does or what attacks hit my character without my permission. Always try to leave a way for someone to respond to your attacks, so describing your attacks as multiple strikes is fine, but then you have to wait to see if that puts my character on the defensive, rather than just assuming it. That's one of the reasons I haven't been able to use Vapaad in duels much, as it requires beating down the defenses of my opponent, which isn't fair to the other player to assume they can't defend against my attacks. It's fine for now since you're learning, but keep that in mind in future posts and duels :)

    IC: Liuna Iotasi :bluesaber:

    As the Padawan moved into a series of quick strikes, Liuna smiled a bit; the forms she'd chosen to study were fast and nimble, and with a good portion of the Order focusing on defensive forms like Soresu, it was nice to see someone else choosing to go on the offense. She used her longer dualsaber to her advantage, using both sides to deflect his strikes as they came. Creating some space, she drew her leg and the Force up and kicked out at Kyber's midsection, both a physical kick and a Force push in that motion, trying to knock him down or at least back.

    TAG: @Kyber Acyk @Adalia-Durron
     
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  23. Adalia-Durron

    Adalia-Durron WNU/Costume/Props/EUC Mod. star 10 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Jun 3, 2003
    IC Adalia Tehanis

    Listen to Liuna, she knows her stuff and I know what your next task is now gives slow nod to allow them to continue


    Sent from my X Wing via sub space.
     
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  24. Dagobahsystem

    Dagobahsystem Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Sep 25, 2015
    IC: Darth Saadi

    Looks aside and away as the other pit inhabitants go through their varied, wayward motions.
    Saadi sighs and slowly walks away in shadow, leaving them in peace, as they are not meant to be disturbed at present.

    Recalling a great many, shall we say problems and or misunderstandings, the clawdite returns to form as he exits the rancorous pit, hopefully for the last time.

    With each step made, his rage increases; towards his ship, towards the Jedi? No.
    Towards only one, is it focused.

    Tag: Nobody
     
  25. Kaleesh-Cyborg

    Kaleesh-Cyborg Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jan 4, 2017
    IC- Grievance Vexx
    Rearmed and Revamped
    Nothing embeds something so deeply in the memory as the desire to forget.


    It has been a while since the conclusion of the Tournament of Darkness. Physical injuries had healed; strength had returned; and changes had been made. Grievance Vexx, well known to have a diehard stubborn resistance against the Force, has emerged a changed creature on many levels. He has had his own personal experience with his power that has altered his course in a way he had never thought possible.

    On this day, he has returned to the maze, drawn by something rooted deep in the core of his culture. Remembrance of battles lost and won is something embedded in his ancient history. He doesn't really know if he can call the Tournament a victory or a defeat. Either way, he feels drawn to commemorate the fact that it had happened and he has lived to remember.

    His new armor makes him stand out; a stark contrast against the red of the sand blowing around him. Like a black apparition, he stands in silence on a rock outcropping overlooking the maze; his history; his victory; his defeat. Movement below catches his eye and he squints across the dusty landscape. Is that Darth Saadi below? The changeling who had taken second place above him? It would seem so. He appears to have recovered well, scurrying around, digging here and there in the sand like a mouse seeking food.

    For a moment, Vexx reflects on what had occurred in the Tournament. He had joined forces with Saadi and Leda so that they all would stand a chance of survival. Those moments had meant something to the Kaleesh warrior who had not experienced a sense of camaraderie in a very long time. All of that is over now. He understands that. Business as usual. Their use and tolerance for one another had been temporal. It is all for one in the Knights of Darkness. Scavenge away, little Saadi, and continue in your quest for glory, brave Leda. As for Vexx, he has his own ideas for his future.

    His skeletal head turns as his eyes fix on the dejected form of the changeling now making his way toward exiting the pit where the shadows of the maze grow long against the setting sun. The peculiar assassin probably knows he is being watched and, quite frankly, Vexx doesn't care if he knows. He can sense the anger boiling in Darth Saadi and though he is a year strong in his position among the Sith, Vexx still does not see the purpose in long-sustained rage. Of all the Sith he has crossed paths with, he has yet to witness one so rage-driven as Saadi and perhaps this has always been the source of the cyborg's curiosity.


    At whom do you direct your rage, Darth Saadi? he wonders in silence from his perch atop the cliff side, To what end is your aimless anger?

    [​IMG]

    Tag: @Dagobahsystem