Fwurg

[Nathan Miodrass Asillion]

At the same time as Ariana, Nathan was also shouting orders.

"Phantom, guard the Package! Professor, you and your assistants take cover and stay down!"

While he shouted, he grabbed one of his knives and cut the rope that attached him to the harness. Freeing himself from the rope, Nathan sheathed the knife and grabbed his lightsaber.

"Ariana, let's drop these bitches!"

Nathan used the Force to move between the crystal and the four commandos in time.
((Check: 12 = 5 Force Level + 4 Fitness + 2 Athletics + 1 Force Speed -- taking a defensive position on the crystal and facing the commandos))

He activated his lightsaber, ready to go.

[Storyteller (Brend)]

Ariana quickly spoke into her communicator, unclear on whether the message would get through. At the same time, Nathan used the 'quick release' option of his makeshift pulling harness.

With both Jedi shouting orders at the scientists, the scientist decided that this was a perfect time to take cover behind the crystal. Insofar one could speak of 'behind the crystal' when the threat came from above.


Seeing both Jedi jump onto the crystal, three of the four Mandalorian Commando's slightly adjusted their course while opening fire on the Hiocan guards. The saber-wielding commando remained on course, and sped down straight toward the two Jedi!

((Combat, round 0: Mandalorian Commando's: Ramikad Style / Mandalorian Sith: Ataru))

((OOC: This is round 0! Declare your offensive style. I will not give stats for all the Hiocan guards and Phantom, but I will take their actions into account. If you have questions, do not hesitate to ask for OOC clarification.))

[Nathan Miodrass Asillion]

Nathan lower his stance and cleared his mind. No distractions clouded his mind, all of his attention was directed at defeating the enemy.

((Combat, round 0: Kawa no Michi; lightsaber: long blade, long hilt))

((OOC: Are we (Ariana and Nathan) fighting both the commandos and the sith or only the sith?))

[Storyteller (Brend)]

((OOC: The SIth and the Commando's are both in the immediate vicinity. The Sith is heading straight towards you two, and the commando's have moved a little to the sides so you can't reach them with a simple melee attack while they can hover around to interfere in your combat with the Sith.

Furthermore, on the Mandalorian side there are also soldiers rappelling down that will eventually make their way towards the crystal. And on your side, the Hiocan guards and Phantom are already near the crystal and are protecting the scientists and the crystal. Because they are nearby, they can therefore be attacked by the commando's.

Does that answer your question?))

[Ariana Danacia]

Ariana pointed her yellow regular blade towards the incoming Sith and kept the green dagger blade on her side.

((Combat, round 0: Ataru; dagger+regular blade (short handles)))

[Storyteller (Brend)]

The Sith warrior deactivated his jetpack a few meters before he landed on the crystal, allowing him to enter the combat with speed! In his drop, he immediately executed a mighty slash at Ariana, testing her ability to withstand brute force. From close by, both Jedi spotted that the Sith was using a regular hilt firmly held with two hands.

Immediately after the long slash, he changes his pose. Nathan, with his interest in two-handed styles, recognizes the pose as the advanced Djem So style.

The three commando's ended up hovering around the crystal, remaining mobile to dodge shots from the Hiocan guards. One of them grabbed a thermal detonator from his belt, and neatly lopped it over the cover of three of the Hiocan guards, sending them scrambling out of the blast zone.

((Combat, round 1: Attack Ariana, Offensive DCA (+2 ).
Attack: 10 / 10 / 9 - Ataru + Regular Blade, Regular Hilt
Defence: 9 / 11 / 10 - Djem So + Regular Blade, Regular Hilt

• -2 first round
• Offensive DCA (+2/+0/+0)

))

((OOC: This is round 1! Don't forget that you get a -2 penalty on offensive rings in the first round of combat!

I forgot to mention it earlier: the Sith warrior is using a regular blade, regular hilt saber.

PS. Apologies for slow posting speed -- I will try to stick to the Wednesday/Sunday scheme for now on; or at least 2/week. If we keep up the tempo, this will be more enjoyable.))

[Ariana Danacia]

Ariana immediately retaliated with a few short slashes when the Sith made contact with her lightsaber. Although it was not very effective it did maintain the balance.

Ariana was tempted to go all in on the Sith but realized that she would be finished off within a matter of seconds in this open area on top of the crystal.

Ariana switched to a defensive stance and quickly jumped off the crystal and used one of the nearby trees for cover. She maneuvered behind the tree to make it harder to hit her for the Sith and used the tree to block most of the fire from the nearby commando's as well.

((Combat, round 1: Attack Sith, Defensive Advantage Action ((Check: 11 = 6 Force Level + 3 Fitness + 1 Stealth + 1 Force Speed -- Using a nearby tree as cover and blocking sight to the other commando's))).
Attack: 9 / 7 / 11 - Ataru + Dagger and Regular Blade, Short Hilt
Defence: 9 / 10 / 12 - Soresu+ Dagger and Regular Blade, Short Hilt

• -2 first round

))

[Nathan Miodrass Asillion]

Nathan lashed out with a large sweeping blow. He let the sweep flow nearly seamlessly into a parry.

While the sith was concentrating on Ariana, Nathan flanked him and attacked.

Switch to a more defensive style, Nathan block the sith from going after Ariana. Doing his best to distract their foe, he moved around on the crystal attempting to get the sith to turn his back on Ariana.

((Combat, round 1: Flanking sith, offensive advantage action((Check: 12 = 5 Force Level + 4 Fitness + 2 Athletics + 1 Force Speed -- flanking the sith))
Attack: 7 / 6 / 6 - Kawa no Michi + Long blade, Long hilt
Defence: 10 / 9 / 9 - Soresu + Long blade, Long hilt

• -2 first round

))

[Storyteller (Brend)]

((OOC: Both of your checks were approved, though Ariana's only barely.))

As the Sith slammed onto the crystal, Nathan quickly sidestepped and countered with a mighty blow. Combined with the aggressive flanking by Ariana, the two Jedi almost succeeded in shaking the Mandalorian warrior. As the Sith retaliated Ariana smoothly jumped into a nearby tree, using her claws and wings to great effect to grab the trunk and manoeuvre around on it. Nathan's quick block prevent the Sith from harming Ariana as she ducked away.

Unfortunately for Nathan, the Sith was much too experienced to allow his back to remain unguarded. At his signal, the three commando's hovering about switched their guns to rapid-fire, and started to unload their whole clip towards Nathan and Ariana. This forced Nathan to start blocking incoming blaster shots in rapid succession, which in turn allowed the Sith to strongly press his attacks on the cyborg.

Although the tree offered some protection, Ariana had to contend with the third commando, who made sure to hover around, and fire in Ariana's direction from a different angle, negating part of her cover.

((Combat, round 2: Attack Nathan, Offensive advantage action (using openings created by forced deflections)
Attack: 10 / 11 / 7 - Djem So + Regular Blade, Regular Hilt
Defence: 9 / 11 / 10 - Djem So + Regular Blade, Regular Hilt

• Barrier of Blades

))

[Ariana Danacia]

Ariana noticed that Nathan would not be able to withstand the Sith for very long. She never intended to leave him behind on the crystal. She only needed a small window to get back in the action.

Ariana carefully deflected the shots fired at her by the commando using a twist maneuvre into the air that she learned during her Soresu training. She did not mind damaging the tree. In fact she did the opposite, she sliced of multiple branches that would normally violently fly away in all directions. Instead of letting the branches fly away she tossed them all into the air between her and the Sith.

When she was completely out of the tree she changed direction in mid air. During the change in direction she deactivated her dagger blade which she pushed onto her belt and wielded her regular blade in two claws.

She pushed the large amount of long thin branches and the leaves that were flying of them into the direction of the Sith warrior's face using the force, impairing his vision for just a short moment. While she pushed them with her telekinesis she used her force speed to get next to the Sith warrior in a matter of a second and landed a powerful smash with her lightsaber at the same moment as the rubble impacted on him.

((Combat, round 2: Attack Sith, Offensive Advantage Action ((Check: 14 = 6 Force Level + 5 Energy + 1 Force Speed + 2 Telekinesis -- Sending a large amount of small branches that she cut of the tree his way to impair his vision for a short moment.)).
Attack: 8 / 6 / 8 - Soresu + Dagger and Regular Blade, Short Hilt
Defence: 8 / 8 / 10 - Ataru + Regular Blade, Short Hilt

• Defensive Advantage Action (Cover from tree)

))

[Nathan Miodrass Asillion]

Nathan knew he was in trouble if he didn't act fast.

He jumped back, deflecting blaster shots, and landed against a tree. Before gravity could catch on he push himself of with all his strength in the direction he came from.

At the last moment he changed his direction in such a way that he could take a slash at the sith, but miss landing on the crystal. His attack was precisely in sinc with Ariana's.

Missing the crystal he landed next to it so it could give him cover from at least one of the commandos and the sith.

((Combat, round 2: Attack sith, Defensive Advantage Action((Check: 12 = 5 Force Level + 4 Fitness + 2 Athletics + 1 Force Jump -- taking cover behind the crystal))
Attack: 9 / 7 / 6 - Soresu + Long blade, Long hilt
Defence: 10 / 9 / 9 - Soresu + Long blade, Long hilt

• Offensive advantage action (flanking)

))

[Storyteller (Brend)]

((OOC: @Ariana: The descriptions of the effects in both your post and your check are more like a DCA. Though you describe a cool manoeuvre, you don't describe how you derive a long-term advantage in the fight from this. I already explained this OOCly, and you opted not to change your post. Your check is denied.

For clarity, and to explain why the Sith's suppressive fire advantage does work: the commandos' suppressive fire is much longer in duration, and they are still present to provide it.

@Nathan: Your check to take cover is approved))

As the suppressive fire of the commandos rained down on her, Ariana rushed the Sith within a swirling cloud of twigs, leaves and branches. With the cloud obscuring her switch of weapons, she strongly gripped the blade of her saber with both claws as she sped herself and the cloud towards the Sith.

Using the his long blade to great advantage in deflecting the incoming suppressive fire, Nathan bounded off the tree with great speed. His mid-air change of direction caught the Sith off-guard!

The Sith, assaulted at both sides while his vision blocked by a cloud of leaves and twigs and, ironically, the suppressive fire of the commandos, decided that the better part of wisdom was getting out of harm's way. As Nathan sped past, the Sith activated his Jetpack, blowing large amounts of black billowing smoke and searing hot air towards Ariana as he fled the crystal while taking on much more defensive stance. It appeared that the combined effort of the jedi had the Sith on the defensive.

The Sith warrior sped after Nathan, making a wide slash in Nathan's direction, before touching down and making a jetpack-assisted jump straight upwards, envelopping Nathan in a cloud of roiling smoke and searing hot air. Though the searing air did little to Nathan's exoskeleton, the black smoke blacked and hot air obscured both normal and infrared vision.

As the Sith fled upwards trailed by black smoke, both Jedi heard him shout some words: "Davaab be'chaaj dajun! Tra'cyar mav!" Only moments later, a tractor beam was activated that started to pull the crystal upwards slowly. At the same time, the Jedi saw that the three commando's gave up their suppressive fire, and the three of them sped towards the professor and his guards.

With the level of training the Hiocan Guards had shown so far, they won't be much of a match for the commandos!

((Combat, round 3: Attack Nathan, Defensive DCA +2/+0/+0 (dodging and blinding with use of jetpack)
Attack: 11 / 12 / 8 - Djem So + Regular Blade, Regular Hilt
Defence: 12 / 11 / 12 - Soresu + Regular Blade, Regular Hilt

• Barrier of Blades
• Offensive Advantage (suppresive fire)

))

((OOC: As a special ruling, the Sith will lose his 'Offensive Advantage (suppresive fire)' advantage after this turn!))

[Nathan Miodrass Asillion]

Seeing the commandos go for the professor, Nathan shot after them. He would rather not have to use his back up plan.

The Hiocan guards might not be a match for the Mandalorian commandos, but the commandos would hardly be a match for a jedi without the sith to back them up. Moving with Force enhanced speed Nathan slashed the commandos to pieces. Having taken care of the commandos he ran back to the crystal and jumped on. During his return he keyed his comm to Ariana.

"Ariana, use your telepathy and tell Trigiel and Darones to get their asses down here! And let them have the rest of the ships ready for a starside intercept of that corvette."

He then switched to a much broader frequency.

"Leopard, Scateat-1, where the hell are you!? I want that corvette out of my sky now!"

((OOC: I'm not really sure if taking out the commandos counts as a combat action or a non-combat action. I'm claiming it as a DCA for the moment but I would like to know what the storyteller has to say on this so I can change my post if I see the need.))

((Combat, round 3: Attack Commandos, Removing suppressive fire advantage action.((Check: 12 = 5 Force Level + 4 Fitness + 2 Athletics + 1 Force Speed -- Using the Force to catch the commandos and kill them.))
Attack: 11 / 7 / 6 - Soresu + Long blade, Long hilt
Defence: 11 / 10 / 10 - Soresu + Long blade, Long hilt

• Offensive advantage (flanking)
• Defensive advantage (cover)
• Offensive DCA (+2/+0/+0)

))

((OOC: edit: changed DCA to removing advantage action. I know it is slightly useless seeing as it was already stated it would be removed next round. But I can only take one action each round and I don't see what else the action of killing the commandos could be.
@Ariana: I'm not about to die, we are about to lose the crystal and I will blame you if we do. :)))

[Storyteller (Brend)]

((OOC: Taking out the commandos counts as a combat action. Just running after someone is not enoug for a DCA though.))

[Ariana Danacia]

With the Sith going after Nathan again Ariana followed him directly. She pushed the smoke back with the strength of her flapping wings she pushed it all the way in front of him giving her clear sight and blinding him instead. Ariana immediately followed up with a battering from her light saber in his back that came close to a saber swarm. While Ariana was fighting the Sith she said to Nathan: "No time to contact them now!"

((Combat, round 3: Attack Sith, Offensive DCA +0/+0/+2 ((Check: 11 = 6 Force Level + 4 Strength + 1 Force Speed -- Clearing the smoke and pushing it in front of him. Followed by backstabbing.)).
Attack: 10 / 12 / 13 - Ataru + Regular Blade, Short Hilt
Defence: 8 / 8 / 10 - Ataru + Regular Blade, Short Hilt

• Defensive Advantage Action (Cover from tree)

))

((OOC: The long range telepathy requires the use of the rank 1 power. Since this requires a check it is counted as a non combat action. I can not combine this with my DCA. I rather off-balance the Sith than tell Darones / Trigiel that you are about to die ;)))

[Storyteller (Brend)]

((OOC: I'm waiting a bit for Nathan to update his post if he wants, based on my earlier reply. If no change has been made by wednesday afternoon, I'll continue as scheduled.))

[Storyteller (Brend)]

((OOC: Nathan is fast enough to catch up with the commando's before they can attack the professor and his guards, though they are 2-circle operatives, they are indeed no match for a Jedi with these scores. Nathan, your check is approved. And the commando's can't be used again to put down suppressive fire!

(@Nathan: On a related note, I have not used the your outer score as 11, but as 9 as you forgot to remove the DCA from earlier.)

Ariana, your check is on the low side, but considering that your natural flight is capable of keeping you in the air the amount of air displaced is easily enough to blow away the smoke. Your check is approved.))

With Ariana reacting to the smoke much earlier than the Sith expected, she caught him while he was still trying to make his escape. As the Sith ineffectively tried to attack Nathan thinking his back was covered with the smoke, Ariana suddenly struck out and force him to defend from an awkward position, bringing him off-balance!

The three commandos were incapable of offering much resistance to Nathan. They might have had a chance if they would have the advantage of range, terrain and surprise; but with this simple a battlefield, Nathan disabled them without problems.

The Sith recognized that he was in serious trouble, launched upwards with his jetpack at full throttle. As he fled, he tried a tentative attack towards Ariana, but quickly tried to get out of her reach. He quickly sped past the slowly ascending crystal, and immediately used it as cover against the Jedi.

Meanwhile, Nathan switched to a broader frequency and transmitted his message while he jumped after the crystal. He landed on the crystal, though the crystal ascended fast enough that he wouldn't have made the jump if he waited any longer. Unfortunately, the only reply the cyborg received over the radio was a very loud crackling static, as if someone was rudely flooding the frequency with large amounts of high-powered noise.

By now the crystals was half-way towards the corvette, roughly 30 meters into the air. The two tractor beam projectors pulling the crystal in where located left and right of the hangar doors that opened downwards.

Both Nathan and Ariana spotted the heavy gun emplacements that had been hastily set up inside the hangar of the corvette. Thought the Jedi would likely survive being in there for a moment, the sheer number of turrets could prove overwhelming if they went in without a plan. Luckily, it would take the crystal another twenty seconds to enter the hangar.

((Combat, round 4: Attack Ariana, Defensive advantage action (keeping the crystal in between him and the jedi by flying around)
Attack: 6 / 8 / 5 - Soresu + Regular Blade, Regular Hilt
Defence: 9 / 10 / 11 - Soresu + Regular Blade, Regular Hilt

• Off-Balance

))

((OOC: Edit: Forgot to remove DCA +2/+0/+0 from final scores. Fixed!))

[Ariana Danacia]

((OOC: Some nitpicking about the stats of the Sith: Barier of Blades is a Djem So maneuvre which can not be used in Soresu. (it is not in the stats but you still state it in the list.

I calculated the as 9 Where you state 11... (Force 6 + 3 Soresu + 1 Hilt - 1 Off Balance.))

[Storyteller (Brend)]

((OOC: You're right on the Barrier of Blades, of course that manoeuvre is not valid in Soresu. I'll have to check my stats on the . I will do so this evening; but I suspect you are right, this does seem high.

Updated: It is fixed!))

[Ariana Danacia]

Ariana noticed that the Sith was no longer trying to run away. It was time to end this situation. "Nathan, we need to destroy the tractor beams. We can not let the crystal get on the corvette."

With a smile on her face Ariana looked straight at the Sith, her eyes became dark for a second. She rushed straight at the Sith giving him no chance to run. Ariana grabbed the Sith with one claw while wielding her lightsaber in the other. She dragged him down while deflecting a few hits of his light saber followed by stabbing him multiple times all over his body. When she was done with him she dropped him.

((Combat, round 4: Attack Sith, Only attacking
Attack: 10 / 12 / 12 - Ataru + Regular Blade, Short Hilt
Defence: 8 / 8 / 10 - Ataru + Regular Blade, Short Hilt

• Defensive Advantage Action (Cover from tree)
• Saber Swarm

))

[Nathan Miodrass Asillion]

((OOC: You are right my bad.))

Nathan knew Ariana was right. Silently he cursed to himself for not arguing with quartermaster Nishra, a demolition charge or a thermal detonator would at least given him something to fall back on.

Seeing Ariana had gained the upper hand against the sith and was likely to finish him off soon, Nathan concentrated on the Force. He kept his lightsaber on and in his hand just in case things didn't go as planned.

Using his telekinesis he started to mess with the controls of one of the gun emplacements in the hangar. First jerking it to the left, then quickly changing it's direction to make the operator lose his grip. Letting it spin around, he squeezed the trigger. After five spins, he let it aim at the left tractor beam projector and fired. Once the left was destroyed he aimed for the right one and fired again.

He braced himself for the drop.

((Combat, round 4: non-combat action, Destroying the tractor beams((Check: 9 = 5 Force Level + 3 Energy + 1 Telekinesis -- Controlling one of the gun emplacements with the Force))
Attack: 9 / 7 / 6 - Soresu + Long blade, Long hilt
Defence: 10 / 8 / 8 - Kawa no Michi + Long blade, Long hilt

• Offensive advantage (flanking)
• Defensive advantage (cover)

))

[Storyteller (Brend)]

((OOC: Congratulations! The Sith was succesfully attacked by Ariana on all 3 rings.

Nathan: your check, though creative, is denied. Telekinesis requires Rank 3 to TK attended objects, and fiddling with the controls is very advanced so even if it would be allowed, your check would be too low.))

Ariana's furious onslaught proved too much for the Sith. After stabbing him to death, his limp body fell downwards without much theatrics. With the Sith dispatched, however, the two jedi weren't done yet.

Nathan tried to use the Force to influence the gun emplacements, and though he though he saw one of the guns jerk a little to the left, he wasn't able to effect them in a meaningful way.

It would be another 18 seconds before the Jedi would be pushed through the force field, and into the kill box. Luckily for them, they would first pass within arm's reach of the tractor beam projectors, and the helmed soldiers inside seemed to hold their fire for now.

[Ariana Danacia]

"Nathan watch yourself, we need to protect the crystal, I will destroy one of the tractor beams to slow them down and to see what happens."

Ariana flew towards the left tractor beam and studied it closely for 2 seconds. Unless she could find a method to reverse the effect of the tractor beam she then used her lightsaber to permanently disable the tractor beam by cutting through its power supply cables. With the tractor beam failing there could be multiple things happening depending on the technology the tractor beams used.

The second tractor beam could be completely redundant and the crystal would still move up in this case Ariana would jump straight towards the other tractor beam. She would study the tractor beam for a few more seconds to look for an option to reverse the effect of the tractor beam to send the crystal down again or lower its power input to at least stop the ascend.

If the second tractor beam is not completely redundant but used for stability Ariana would use her telekinesis to stabilize the crystal in the air to prevent the tractor beam from losing grip and eventually dropping it.

Finally in the case that the second tractor beam is necessary to carry the full weight of the crystal it is most likely to fall with one tractor beam being unable to carry the weight. In this case Ariana dropped to the height of the crystal and focused all her concentration on preventing the crystal from crashing and shattering on the ground. She carefully tries to guide the object down with her Telekinesis.

((Check: 14 = 6 Force Level + 6 Reason + 2 Mechanical Engineer -- Analyzing the tractor beam to find the best method to reverse the effect, to shut it down or lower its power input.))

((Check: 13 = 6 Force Level + 5 Energy + 2 Telekinesis -- Preventing the crystal from falling and shattering on the ground.))

[Nathan Miodrass Asillion]

Seeing Ariana take out the sith and realizing his attempt failed, Nathan switched to a more reliable tool. Or to be more precise he combined the two most powerful tools he had available.

Focussing, Nathan brought his arm and his lightsaber back. Concentrating on his target, that being the right tractor beam emitter, Nathan threw his lightsaber. He gave it plenty of spin to stabilize it and used the Force to guide it to it's target and back.

Preparing for the drop, he jumped of the crystal to a nearby tree. From there he used the Force to give the crystal some forward momentum, so that it wouldn't hit the ground head on but would be able to bleed off the excess speed.

((Check: 9 = 5 Force Level + 3 Energy + 1 Telekinesis -- Guiding his thrown lightsaber and giving the crystal forward momentum.))

((Check: 12 = 5 Force Level + 4 Fitness + 2 Athletics + 1 Force Jump -- Jumping off the crystal into a nearby tree))
((OOC: I'm a bit iffy on my sabre throw. A lightsaber is a relatively light weight and small object, that shouldn't be to difficult to influence with Telekinesis. The wiki page says 'It is not possible to use this to attack another,...' on Telekinesis 1. While I find this to be rather vague terminology it suggests it goes for attacking people. While tractor beam emitters are not people, it's easy to consider a sabre throw an attack.))

[Storyteller (Brend)]

((OOC: @Nathan: I will allow the thrown saber in this case, since you are not really attacking anyone or anything. Throwing your lightsaber is always an option (if it doesn't extinguish when you release it), the trick is getting it back and your check is high enough for that: approved (though next time, you might consider Strength instead of Energy to represent that you want to affect the world with the thrown)))

Ariana studied the tractor beam for the few seconds she had, but concluded that an application of her light saber was the only feasible way to disable the beam projector in the time she had. With a quick cut, she destroyed the projector. As the crystal didn't even slow down, she immediately jumped towards the other projector.

Meanwhile, Nathan had already deduced the easiest way to disrupt the tractor beam: throw a lightsaber through it. And with soldier-like efficiency, he had already let go off his lightsaber the moment the projector came within reach. When Ariana dived at it, he was already pulling back his saber with telekinesis, and luckily Ariana didn't jump into the saber's trajectory.

With both projectors destroyed, the crystal was no longer held in the air. Consequently, it started to fall. As the 30 tonnes of crystal were plummeting towards squishing the professor and the left-over guards both Jedi quickly adapted to the situation. Their combined efforts to influence the crystal prevented it from transforming the professor into a mush of blood and bones, and instead the crystal crashed into the ground much slower than it physically should.

Ariana was still hovering in the air and Nathan perched on a branch high in a tree when they heard the roaring engines of two fighter wings pass overhead.

Looking up, they saw the two fighter wings that joined them on the ground mission doing a fly-by of the corvette, targetting its engines and point-defence emplacements.

Looking down they saw that a large number of Mandalorian soldiers was still on the ground, and they were quickly overwhelming the inexperienced and outnumbered Union forces.