Keter sighed and slumped his shouldes. "Oh, that all? Disappointing," he noted idly. "No secret regrets? No tortured past? Just another angry Jedi seeking destruction? How boring." And with that he dismissed Manto from his mind. Besides, he'd acted as a distraction out here long enough. Time to add a bit more action to this measly drama! Ignoring the fallen Jedi, the blond burst into a run, surging up the stairs towards the temple proper. There were cries of alarm from the guards and onlookers as he drew close, but he paid them no mind.
He had better things to do than terrorise bystanders.
But as the man flew into the Temple, Mak tried to get up before shouting at the pain he was in. As the Temple's guards ran in after the Sith, Mak breathed hard.
Post by Celeste Mason on Feb 15, 2017 19:30:32 GMT -5
The Princesses palace was only a short distance from the temple, in fact, Celeste had been able to see it from her office. The drive, however, seemed to take forever. One irritating thing that came with power, was all the red tape that came with it. She had to wait quite a lot for extra security that rarely actually helped.
With great power came great annoyance.
The vehicle that picked her up was black, with a covered top and darkened windows. Maraea had confirmed the destination and that proper security would be tailing them on the short journey. Honestly, what did they think? A Sith attacking the temple would even bother with a lowly Princess of Naboo? Even if that Sith had not been her Father, celeste would have laughed at the very idea. For the moment, she was still just a minor planetary official.
When they pulled up, Celeste quickly slipped out, glancing about for her body guard, who was, no doubt, not far behind her. The crowd of Jedi security seemed to move to stop her, until she tilted her face upwards.
"Princess, you can not be here. A Sith is-"
"Yes, yes. I'm aware. I have ears, after all," she snapped, holding up a hand to silence, "As I understand it, the Jedi temple is in my jurisdiction and therefor, under my protection."
She moved past, waving a hand, carefully showing off the royal crest of Naboo on her ring.
"Now. I think I am overdue for a tour, yes? Jane dear," she called to her body guard, "let's go for a stroll."
"Princess, please-"
"Hush now. This incident is no longer the concern of the Jedi. Since you are unable to protect your own temple, I am forced to step in. All according to Naboo law. You can look it up yourself. Article 46, section 32B. Do take a moment to look it over."
She picked up her skirt and swept past. True, the law stated that in the event that the Jedi were unable to defend their own temple, city officials would step in to provide security... But even Celeste had to admit she doubted it had intended for the Prince/Princess of theed to personally interfere. Ah well. By the time the Jedi had looked up the law, contacted a legal attorney for advice and had a judge decide on the matter, the incident would be long over.
Ah, wasn't politics fun?
Last Edit: Feb 15, 2017 22:55:38 GMT -5 by Celeste Mason
As a healer tended to his injuries, he kept looking past her, looking inside the temple.
"How are the guards doing? Have they found him yet?"
"Master Manto, I don't know that answer. I'm only here to help with your wounds."
Impatient, he couldn't wait any longer. Standing up, he brought out his cane, leaning heavily on it, though when he heard the buzz from the temple security, he turned and his mouth dropped open when he saw Celeste.
"Princess, you need to turn around now..."
Leaning on one of the pillars, he let out a pained breath.
"He's too dangerous for you to be here. I don't care what familial relationship you have with that man: he's a Sith who is well known with utilizing the Dark Side to his advantage in battle..."
Post by Celeste Mason on Feb 15, 2017 22:40:23 GMT -5
Oh. Another Jedi telling her what to do. No... not Jedi. Not really. Celeste paused momentarily to eye the old Master with a pleasant enough smile.
"Ah! Master Manto. A pleasure to see you, as always!"
Her smile never wavered as she began climbing the temple steps again.
"Dangerous, you say? Oh my. How scary," she pulled her shawl closer, glancing ahead at the temple. "Still. Duty calls. The needs of the many versus needs of the few and all that. I will... take my chances with the big bad Sith Master."
She'd found it. After what felt like ages of searching through the most unnecessarily complicated archiving system known to the Galaxy, Zandra had FINALLY found what she was looking for. Glancing about one more time, she reached out to grab a holocron.
Huh. It was... pretty. Sure, this wasn't the first time Zandra had gotten get hands on one of these things. They sold for a lot of credits on the black market. But to have one in her hands, here, in this seat of power for the Jedi... Well, it just felt different.
Voices could be heard from across the archives. That could mean a few things. One; Keter was dead. Two; Keter had killed someone. Three; Someone had figured out it was all a diversion. Or four; a few padawans had decided to use this distraction to investigate more of the guarded areas of the archives. No matter what it meant, Zandra needed to pick up the pace.
As quickly as she could, she dumped her toolbox out on the floor and started to shove holocrons inside.
Post by Sara Arkelion on Feb 15, 2017 23:29:44 GMT -5
'Sith. Ugh,' was the armored individual's thought as she held up a gloved hand to halt the merchant in mid-speech who was nattering away at her in Rodian, turning to face the direction of the distant Theed Jedi Temple where she had sensed the ripples in the Force emanating from. One hand was lowering to the datapad build into the underside of her armor's left arm when her commlink beeped at her, and a nudge of her chin inside her helmet opened the channel. And she'd been having such a nice day so far...
"Go," was her only response, even as Sara tapped in the command that would bring the repulsor-pack built into her armor to life, causing her to shoot skyward. Fortunately, as it was not a jetpack, there were no flames generated that would possibly have set things on fire. Listening as she went, a grimace flitted across her face that was unseen by the person on the other end, though her opinion of the Princess she'd been hired to guard was more or less intact. On the one hand, she was willing to risk her own safety to see to that of others, but on the other...she did so with very few guards. 'Foolish child,' was putting the armor-clad woman's opinion mildly.
It only took her about a dozen minutes to reach the vicinity of the Temple from the Trade District, and only a few more to drop out of the sky near the black-haired child in question. With the ease of long practice, a pulse of Force energy softened her landing just enough so the front steps didn't feature a new blood splatter decoration, rising to her feet and dusting herself off before beginning to make her way over to where the Princess was, accompanied by a blonde that was unknown...and a Jedi who the deceptively young-looking woman had not seen in quite some time. A note of amusement entered her voice as she came to a stop roughly three feet from the three people.
"Well, well, well. Mak Manto. It's been a while since I've seen you alive and -" she paused to make a quick examination of him, taking note of the injuries and obvious signs of battle, before continuing. "Well, I can't very well say alive and well, judging by your appearance." Then her armored head turned towards the Princess, and the amusement was gone, replaced by an utterly flat tone. "You, on the other hand, haven't the faintest idea what Sith are capable of, if you only have a single bodyguard with you. Fortunately, someone in your employ knew how to get in touch with me." A hand lifted, thoughtfully rubbing at a faded scratch on her helmet where her chin would have otherwise been, as she mused "I definitely need to change my comm codes again..." before snapping her attention back to the much younger woman.
Last Edit: Feb 15, 2017 23:32:32 GMT -5 by Sara Arkelion
Post by Nick Kahoshi on Feb 16, 2017 0:36:08 GMT -5
A temple owned aircar flew down to the bottom of the temple stairs, stopping just shy. From the air the Jedi Master driving it could tell something was amiss. Jumping from the aircar Nick began to make his way up the stairs taking multiple steps at once until he reached a group he certainly did not expect to see.
The princess-elect, a former Jedi Master, and what would seem to be a darksider of some kind. It was also clear that Mak had sustained not insubstantial injuries. As there was no apparent hostility with the armored woman, Nick did not draw his sabers. Yet at least.
"Mak, Princess-Elect Mason, what has happened here? Who caused such injuries to a warrior such as yourself?" Nick asked before turning to the darksider. "I do not believe you and I have met."
Post by Lady Molotov on Feb 16, 2017 13:13:01 GMT -5
Jane grinned under her helmet. At first, she'd wanted nothing to do with the Temple or the people attacking it, but now she was excited. She wasn't sensing the Force coming from the building or the people around her. She was smelling it. Each of the men and women standing around her had a distinct scent, as did the man she assumed had just injured the reptilian-looking Jedi Master. It made her feel like a predator again, wanting to hunt down her prey and destroy it.
But she couldn't, could she? If she'd just heard right, that guy was a relative of the lady's. She would probably stop her. That thought was kind of irritating. The Mandalorian let out a sigh. She looked around at the two Jedi, her employer, and stopped on the woman in the pretty armor. Even with all those scratches, it looked so much better than the armor she and her friends had pieced together on Rishi. She wondered if it was stronger than the beskar. Maybe there would be time to find out.
"Look, if there's a real Sith running around in there, I want more backup."
Post by Celeste Mason on Feb 17, 2017 19:23:11 GMT -5
The Princess felt her lips twitch in amusement as one of her guards chastised her. It was for the best that the woman thought her a silly fool. Better she be underestimated than overestimated.
She'd opened her mouth to respond, when they were joined by another Jedi. Celeste... was starting to get bored of this conversation. "Her name's Sara Arkelion..." she heard the injured Jedi Master answer, "She's a Master of the Dark Side... Why are you here? Because of Keter?"
"A Master of the darkside?" Celeste raised an eyebrow, a hint of playfulness in her voice, "Why! Miss Arkelion! Why didn't you tell me?"
She began to walk again, eyes focused on the doors. Her father was in there. She could sense him now. So close. Her sister would give her right arm just for this chance. Celeste on the other hand... her motives for finding him were not nearly as noble. There was no desire to 'reunite the family'. They were well past that point.
What Celeste desired was to find the straw to break the banthas back. This Sith attack might be what she needed to get the Jedi off of her world.
Keter had once seen the plans for the Jedi Temple, they had crossed his wife's desk back when she had been queen, before Naboo had devoured her. Many additions had been added since then, but he could still orient himself. Drawn to the commotion outside, there were few people in the corridors, and those he did ran into knew better than to challenge him.
One or two guards did stnad their ground, and Keter had obliged them by stopping to duel, but they hadn't been able to keep up. The blond's blood was up. He was having the time of his life! He spared their lives in recognition of their bravery, but made sure to grab their lightsabers for his collection. Now, if he remembered correctly, the Archives would be near the back of the building, covering multiple floors...best head upstairs first, and not make a straight line towards his objective. He couldn't be too obvious.
Hopeuflly, if they set to evacuating the Archive, Zandra would be able to slip out along with any other civilians.
As soon as the call to evacuate sounded, Zandra knew her time was up. She sealed her bag, stuffed a bulky holocron down the front of her shirt and sprinted out.
All part of the plan. More or less. What little plan there actually was, anyway. Almost nobody bothered to look at her. She wasn't a special space wizard. She was just another no name maintenance worker, sprinting down the halls with the rest of them.
Out of the corner of her eye, as she flew through the halls, she caught a flash of blond. She didn't stop though. What ever he was doing here, it was no longer her business. She did her job, and if he didn't come back to the ship within an hour, she'd have to just assume him dead and spend his share of the profits for him.
Post by Lady Molotov on Feb 21, 2017 11:31:17 GMT -5
Jane really would've liked to keep talking... and maybe get some help, but Celeste started right on towards the temple. Seeing as her actual job was to protect the girl who insisted on throwing herself into danger at that moment, the blonde couldn't help but follow. She unslung and loaded her rifle. As she focused more, the smell of the Force changed. Now there were weaker scents everywhere being overpowered by the Sith's and Celeste's.
Post by Sara Arkelion on Feb 21, 2017 15:19:22 GMT -5
A faint smirk curved Sara's lips beneath her helmet at Mak's words, though it disappeared soon enough at Celeste's remark. Reaching up with both hands, she unsealed her helmet with a hiss indicative of escaping air, before removing it. Blinking to adjust to the brightness that her helmet's visor filtered out, her vivid amethyst-hued gaze swept from Mak, to Celeste, to the unknown blonde woman...and then back to Mak as she decided to reply to him first. The fact that removing her helmet had revealed the handful of long-healed scars on her face didn't even enter her mind, nor did the ones that clearly trailed down her neck and were hidden by her armor, she had come to terms with them long ago.
"You are both right and wrong, Jedi. I no longer tread the path of the Sith, but that does not mean I'm not infinitely familiar with the Dark Side. Or what Sith are capable of. The Force knows, I've done my share of atrocities over the first two hundred years of my life."
Then her head shifted in Celeste's retreating form as she began to follow, helmet cradled in the crook of her left arm, employing a bit of the Force to project her voice just enough for the Princess to hear her response.
"Because what you don't know can kill you, child."
Then she caught the remark emanating from the blonde, and allowed a slight amused chuckle to spill from her lips before speaking again.
"If you can smell him, as you say, then you are likely aware of the Padawans and Knights also inside."
With that, she donned her helmet anew, reaching behind her for the hilt of the sword that stuck up behind her right shoulder. Unsheathing it, a twist of the custom-made Mandalorian saber's hilt revealed that the grip was actually a lightsaber, and the sword's blade was returned to the sheath strapped to her back as her weapon ignited with an angry hiss to reveal a gold-hued blade.
Post by Celeste Mason on Feb 21, 2017 19:41:08 GMT -5
More sass from the darksider. Celeste would need to speak with Maraea about her recommendation. Still... Celeste had known what she was, and she had approved her appointment.
The girl smiled as she walked on. She thought Celeste was stupid still. Good. It would work out best for all if they thought her a simple minded child.
"Weapons away, Ladies. It's quite rude."
She could feel him now. Strong. He was close, or at least closer. She started down a long hallway, concentrating on her Fathers force presence. If he was capable of feeling her as well, she could only guess. Perhaps he did, perhaps he was too distracted for that. Either way, she had no intention of trying to stop him.
A group of both Jedi students and a few uniformed workers ran by. Had Celeste paid more attention, she might have noticed a familiar face among the evacuees, or the lumpy bag she carried. Before the Princess could identify the Pirate Zandra in her disguise, she was out of sight.
"Miss Jane? Miss Arkelion? Do you sense our new friend nearby?"
She certainly could, but the less they knew about her abilities as a force wielder, the better. Would spoil the surprise. Oh, she did so love a dramatic reveal.
Post by Lady Molotov on Feb 22, 2017 2:26:11 GMT -5
"Weapons away? Fine."
Jane was still looking around, actually sniffing the air like a hunting dog. Where was this Sith? She knew his scent now, so he wouldn't get away from them. But where exactly was he? Her senses didn't giver her x-ray vision or thermal imaging. She was a Force-tracking animal, like a vornskr. While she slung her rifle back over her shoulder, she took a sharp breath and glanced upward. Up? Was he above them? That close? No way. She growled angrily. Her nose was messing with her.
"His scent is so strong. Why can't I tell where it's coming from?"
The blonde glared at the ceiling again, removing her helmet. She thought that might help, but it didn't.
"He's upstairs somewhere, but Maker knows where... I don't even sense death around him. How did he get up there?"
Taking the stairs had been the obvious option, so Keter had sliced his way into the elevators and hopped up a floor with the aid of the Force. It was childish really. He was pretty much just vandalizing the place at this point. And still no serious challenge appeared before him. Maybe the Jedi had simple chosen to cut their losses and make sure he couldn't take anything of value? After all, the temple was merely a building. It could be repaired, rebuilt even. The blond hummed to himself as he stalked the upper corridors, making sure to move swiftly whenever someone caught sight of him. It was like he was a predator, carefully herding whoever was left into the Archives themselves.
He made sure to leave an obvious gap for them to escpae through though. The panic and relief at having a way out would lead to a rush, covering Zandra's escape nicely. Keter paused as he passed an empty chamber. He poked his head in and glanced about. Empty. Probably used for sparring practice, or maybe even regular lessons for younglings. Didn't matter. He tossed in the thermal detonator he had and closed the door behind him. THe muffled blast was quite satisfying in it's own way.
Post by Celeste Mason on Feb 22, 2017 19:25:24 GMT -5
Celeste had opened her mouth to respond to the Mandalorian, but a echoing boom from above cut her off. Her eyes narrowed, zeroing in on his location immediately.
"Never mind. We've found him."
She lifted her skirts, bunching the fabric up to her knees as she sprinted ahead, looking for a lift. Of course, when she found them, they were all locked down. Of course they were. A mad Sith was around. Were Celeste a little more savvy with tech, she might have been able to find a way through, but no.
"Stairs. End of the hall, through the service door," she sighed, sweeping along, "...I really hate stairs."
Post by Sara Arkelion on Feb 25, 2017 15:09:11 GMT -5
A slight smirk beneath her helmet was Sara's only reaction to the Princess' comment about putting their weapons away, though she kept hers out regardless, head shifting just enough to look in the blonde woman's direction before making a hand gesture towards their shared charge indicating a lack of common sense. It's not as if she was hiding her Force signature, and the lightsiders behind them knew what she was from that alone, and now she was walking straight into territory they knew best. Turning back towards the Princess at the query about sensing whoever it was, Sara reached out with the Force for a few seconds - it didn't take much to sense their target ahead of them somewhere.
Especially when an explosion could be heard coming from that direction, causing Sara's eyes to narrow beneath her helmet, Mando'a spilling from her lips after Celeste's remark. "Ori'buyce, kih'kovid," and the tip of her active lightsaber twitched in the general direction of their target to indicate who she meant. Even if nobody else understood what she'd said. And then the dark-haired child took off running, eliciting a snort from her even as she nudged her chin against the control that would bring her armor's repulsor-pack to life. Shifting her weight to compensate for the quasi-zero-g effect it induced as it lifted her off the floor, a sound of genuine amusement was heard before her next remark. "Ahh, I'd forgotten how fun a chase could be."
And then she was off, shooting after the Princess. It didn't take long to catch up, with the anti-gravity device active, and she spoke when she drew even with Celeste, as she'd just barely caught the dislike about stairs comment. "If you hate stairs that much, child, there's two solutions." Amusement was quite evident in her voice as she spoke. "Get more exercise so they're less of a pain, or use other forms of technology." And then she shot past the still-moving Princess, to a fixed point roughly ten feet ahead of her as they both kept moving.
Last Edit: Feb 25, 2017 15:10:28 GMT -5 by Sara Arkelion
The herd was gathered. Now to drive them towards the exits. Keter laughed, letting the sound ring out across the halls as he he stepped onto a balcony in the archives. He could see a few people gathered together, civilians, with Jedi surrounding them, lightsabers drawn. Temple guards and a few knights. Nothing he couldn't handle. He hopped back a few steps before taking a running leap, easily clearing the huddled mass with a slight touch of the Force, landing on the other side of them in a picture perfect three point landing. He ignored the stab of pain in his knees as he stood up and ignited his lightsabers.
The Jedi wouldn't waste this chance. He was in the Archive, weapons drawn. The way out was clear. They would expect some sort of support, so - yep. They sent two guards out the door first, followed swiftly by the civilians as two of the masked guardians moved to engage him. The blond spun his red sabers before adopting a reverse grip on both, crouching down, keeping his centre of gravity low. Time to show off a bit more.
Post by Celeste Mason on Mar 10, 2017 20:41:24 GMT -5
Celeste was already bored with this. The chase wasn't going to be fun in the first place and she had accepted that, but now it was downright annoying. He was so close and yet, it seemed the closer she got, the further he tried to run. Why? Didn't he know her? Didn't he sense her nearby?
His laughter echoed through the halls, loud now. She slowed to a brisk walk. She could see him, only for a moment before he jumped from the balcony. Her hand had extended in a half minded attempt to... what? Grab him? Hold him back? Just... make him notice her? What ever she had hoped to accomplish, if didn't matter. He was over the edge and below.
The Princess stopped at the balcony, looking below at her Father. She said nothing, but she held a hand up to stop her entourage. This was all she'd wanted, in the end. Just a chance to see him in the flesh. Even if he didn't notice her, it didn't matter. She had achieved what she'd intended to.
Post by Sara Arkelion on Mar 14, 2017 21:59:14 GMT -5
Given her position out in front of the very young Princess, Sara had already reached the balcony by the time that the dark-haired young woman joined her in looking downwards, one corner of her mouth quirking upwards in a smirk even though it was hidden by her helmet. Taking note of the gesture Celeste made for both the blonde and herself to stop at the balcony, the armored woman rolled her shoulders to loosen up, and then stepped off the edge, her focus entirely on the other darksider below.
The landing was an easy one, even without the aid of her armor's built-in repulsor-pack. A faint manipulation of the Force, and she landed without a sound, aside from the angry humming of her still-active lightsaber. And then she opened herself to the Force, revealing the entirety of her presence, at the same time that her voice called out, amplified by the Force. "Leave, Jedi. Attend to your own." That was all she said, before her gold-hued lightsaber lifted to point unerringly in Keter's direction.
Post by Lady Molotov on Mar 17, 2017 1:11:51 GMT -5
What an ugly piece of headgear.
After a whole bunch of stairs, the complaining associated with them, and some vague recollection of hearing some Mando'a from the Arkelion woman's mouth, that was all Jane could think of when she saw the intruder. Clearly he was a cyborg, but even the most dirt-poor Mandalorian wouldn't have gone around with wires sticking out of their face, and what was basically a respirator mask that looked like it was welded to said face. It made her want to find and obtain actual garbage to weld to his skull with her flaming hands. She had to admit he had good hair, though. Not as good as hers, of course, but still good.
Her helmeted head moved to watch the armored woman drop to the lower floor. It was pretty satisfying to watch. Pretty quiet, so there must've been some cushioning involved. She personally preferred full-impact landings with jetpacks and fire and loud noises, but whatever. She looked at her employer now, almost bored with the situation except for the impending fight.
"So... we're just going to watch? Go back home? What?"
Post by Celeste Mason on Mar 17, 2017 20:48:22 GMT -5
Ah. Of course the darksider had to show off. Show how superior she was... or something like that. Childish. But Celeste was patient. She had known the woman was not to be trusted, but Celeste didn't need loyalty from her. She had loyalty elsewhere where it mattered.
She watched the woman challenge her father, secretly wishing the old man would beat her senseless. Then she caught her bloodthirsty thoughts and banished them before turning her attention to the Mando.
"I have been waiting a long time to see my father again," she confessed, "But I can wait a while longer. Let's let her have some fun."
The guards spun as the sensations of another Dark Sider reached them. Her words, her stance, were enough to convince them to leave. THe politics of darksiders were not their concern. Keter cocked his head to one side as he looked at the heavily armoured and armed warrior before him. "Hmm, don't recognize you," he admitted, tapping the side of his mask. The flight mask was something he wore purely for aesthetics these days. A long time ago, when he had relied heavily on the Inferno to act as a command centre, he had kept it on at all times, ready to leap to his ship and fly out at any opportunity.
His so-called Masters had never managed to hold his interest long.
"Gold, huh? Bit garish for you isn't it?" Keter offered, letting one of his hands drift behind him, keeping the blade angled away from his body. A highly aggressive stance, sacrificng the extra protection a second blade offered to setup an easy follow up attack. This was based more off dancing. Feena had insited he learn a variety of dances than the simple sets he knew. It was important that a Queen's paramour be ready to dance with her at any function, anywhere, she had said. "A darksider too....here for redemption? Think taking me down a peg will get you into the Jedi's good books?" the blond asked before he surged forwards. A simple stab to her chest first, followed up by a sweep at her waist as he spun, building momentum.
Post by Sara Arkelion on Mar 20, 2017 2:50:10 GMT -5
A smirk beneath her helmet was Sara's initial reaction to the man's remark that he didn't recognize her. Despite the fact that he continued to speak, her focus was on his body and weapon, not his voice. So it was not that much of a surprise when he followed his query up with his initial attack.
Knowing her armor could take the hit was a fact that remained foremost in the armored woman's mind, but so too was the value of keeping that information a secret until it was advantageous to reveal, leading her to sway backwards away from the stab at her upper torso before sweeping the saber in her hands to block the strike he'd aimed at her waist. Then she spoke, amusement clearly evident in her voice.
"Redemption comes in many forms. I've no need to "get in the Jedi's good books," as you put it. Nor the Sith's. Neither organization holds much appeal any more, given how long I've lived. Groups come and go, but causes to fight for...those are a different story." Shifting her balance so that her weight was evenly distributed, she assumed a stance that would let her easily flow from offense to defense as needed, and waited to see what the blond-haired man did and said next.
Hmm, armored yet dexterous. Typical. Someone going for the jack-of-all trades approach. Flexible responses. But that just meant all he had to do was focus on one parituclar trick and overwhelm her. "I can respect that," the blond nodded, hopping back a few steps as he continued to move, maintaining a flow of movement. It was no form any actual saber master would have respected, too flashy and errant for their tastes. Just another trick in Keter's arsenal. It gave him time to pinpoint a target.
There.
Right shoulder, a gap to allow for movement between armour plates. Tiny. A strike there would be crippling but hardly fatal and easily fixed. "So I'd be wasting my time by giving you a Sith recruitment spiel?" he idly asked before stopping all of a sudden and adopting the fencing form again. One saber in his off-hand for defence, the other in his primary hand aimed directly forwards at Sara Arkelion. Just a touch of Force power to his muscles and nerves and...
He moved. Fifteen thrusts straight to her shoulder, darting in and out like a serpent.
Post by Sara Arkelion on Mar 29, 2017 15:08:19 GMT -5
Taking note of his response even as she studied the pattern of his movement, Sara's respect for the man rose a notch when it became apparent he was using something other than the repertoire of known lightsaber techniques. Keeping his query in mind as she watched him move, her eyes narrowed beneath her helmet when he finally moved, and it was not hard to detect his use of the Force with her own senses enhanced as well. The moment he did move, however, it was equally obvious that the Force was speeding his rate of movement.
A wide grin flitted across her face at this, and she also employed the Force to boost her speed. While simultaneously nudging the control inside her helmet that would bring her armor's built-in repulsor-pack to life, promptly lifting her half a foot up off the floor barely a moment before his attack forced her to either block all his attacks or some of them, or just dodge them. Sara chose to block them, her lightsaber shifting this way and that lightning-fast, to counter the man's attacks. However, given how long it had been since she'd fought another Force-user, her reaction time was slower than it needed to be, and half of his attacks did get through.
The cumulative effect of the strikes that did get through had her armor sliced open in a handful of places, her shoulder soon flaring in agony, and her teeth bared beneath her helmet in a death's-head grin as she dropped the lightsaber from her hand to the ground, turning her entire focus towards manipulating the Force. Lifting her left hand in his direction, a surge of the Force was the only hint of the sudden massive burst of telekinetic energy she aimed at him, courtesy of her knowledge of the Force...and her own gift when it came to telekinetic manipulation. Only then did she finally answer his question about Sith recruitment, her voice filled with an utterly flat tone.
"I was Sith, once. And Jedi. A hundred years ago, I grew tired of the constant strife that was part of being Sith, though it had been part of my existence for the hundred and forty-four years prior to that, courtesy of time spent among both the Jedi and the Sith. So I simply left them both behind, and have been here on Naboo for the last century." An emotionless chuckle filled the silence as she paused. "So, yes, you would be wasting your time by attempting to recruit me."
Keter allowed for the blast of power to send him hurtling away, converting his tumble into a cartwheel. He made sure to flick his sabers off - acrobatics with ignited lightsabers tended to end in serious wounds. A quick break would allow him to consolidate waht he had learned. The woman knew what we was doing, and could keep up with him - not perfectly, but enough to make any contest in that field close enough that her allies only had to take part to swing things in her favour. Fortunately, her comaptriots seemed unwilling to join in just yet.
The blond straightened and dusted himself off, listening to the answer Sara Arkelion gave. He shook his head. "I see. A pity. The time of rogues is coming to an end. The Empire is spreading everywhere, enforcing their order. You're either with them, or against them." He smiled, igniting only one saber this time, stowing the other away before gripping the hilt with both hands. Time for a strength approach. "I will not tolerate any half-assed commitments."