CHASE SABRE DUEL- Persis vs. Galder.

THE SET-UP: Both good and bad guys have split up to pursue various leads in the Galaxy. In this part of the story, the Dark Siders have chased irritating Force Adept (and Dark Sider) Persis to his home of Tartarus, the centre of a thoroughly corrupt Republican investigation into smuggling- Persis' business. Persis holds the Astrolabe that the Dark Siders desperately need in order to navigate to their target- the Mausoleum- and Kuylen's orders to his men there are simple- find Persis, kill Persis, take the Astrolabe.

Staying ahead of the Jedi who hoped to safely retrieve the Astrolabe themsleves but have been caught up in the bureaucracy of the situation, the Dark Siders have now found their target. But all is not well- Persis has left many traps to give him an advantage and has attacked the weaker of those sent to stop him. Galder is suffering from serious injuries to his back and left arm, and is also suffering from the early stages of fatal radiation poisoning.

New recruit Rah is nearby to help Galder- but he might be a lifetime too late.

HOW THIS WORKS: If he gets here, this will be Rah;s first fight, but the system is simple enough:

The duellists take it in turns to attack each other. The attacker describes his attack and then the defender describes his defence. One person will succeed- a decision I make based on the skill of the fighters, the quality and appropriateness of their post, and a small random factor. I control Persis in this fight, with a further random determination made to see how appropriate his response is.

The winner of the round scores a point, and then the attacker and defender swap places. Aside from taunts, no other moves can be made except the single move or countermove you make each round! If a round is drawn, the attacker wins

First to five points wins the duel, but like in tennis you must win by two clear points. The amount of points by which you win a duel dictates what happens to the loser- a two point loss is a superficial wound, more is losing a limb, a five point win kills your opponent outright. Regardless, you cannot pursue a defeated opponent no matter what; if you lose a duel (and survive) you can always escape.

At the start of any round, either combatant may try to flee.

This fight begins as a straight duel but if Rah makes it it will convert into a 2 vs. 1. When this happens, both sides lose a point to represent the change in circumstance. This can bring you into negative points, which means the gap between the two combatants remains the same but the fight will take at least two rounds to finish.

Rah will make it after one entire 'set' of moves. A set is five rounds.

ANALYSIS: Considering that Persis' only formal training in the Lightsabre was from his Master Ascar, no Dark Sider and certainly no sabre expert, and that the rest of his sabre training was done whilst disguised at a swordfighting dojo on Malastare, the impressivley fit Persis has done well for himself. However, he is NOT on a par with the best swordfighting templates in this game. Galder is the better fighter. BUT. Galder is suffering from a THREE POINT impariment! Most individual rounds in duelling, when I calculate them, are won on a draw (goes to attacker), or by one or two points (Lance once won a round by 4, only Chion and Kuylen have ever won by 5 or more)- so this is obviously a huge problem! Not only is Persis likely to win, he is likely to kill.

Rah is a fit man but not up to Galder's skill. One on one against Persis it would be an even match. Two on one, though, Persis may come unstuck- he has no method to aid him in such a fight and so not only will Galder and Rah get an advantage, Persis will also receive a penalty. Galder and Rah have no experience fighting together but their styles ARE compatible if they work on it. It is very possible that even with the lead Persis will get, Rah and Galder together can turn the fight around, but it will be tenuous, and Galder has to stay alive first.

For once, a Dark Sider finds himself under attack. But BY another Dark Sider, so the Dark Side monopoly on attacks continues...

Score:

Persis- 0, Galder- 0

Persis to attack

Persis' laughter rings loud as he gets close to your stumbling form, Galder. His features are obscured by his filter mask but you can see his blonde hair and cold blue eyes, and can imagine his wide smile. Holding his sabre in front of him in a ready guard, he kicks at you, hard.

Galder throws himself backwards and into a roll, rolling to his feet. He decides he will just try to avoid Persis until Rah can join him and kill Persis.

There is virtually no room to manoeuvre. You roll backwards as best you can, but Persis is fast, aggressive and mobile. He speeds forwards and nearly cuts you in two with his sabre, now making lots of fast blows at you.

Score: Persis 1, Galder 0.

Galder to attack

Galder blocks best he can and then feints a few blows before jabbing at Persis' ribcage. He then goes back on the defensive, jabbing again a few times.

Your sabres clash with the familiar flash of such blows, but your moves seem slow, feeble, uneven. Persis bats them aside easily and you are driven back.

Score: Persis 2, Galder 0.

Persis to attack

With you backing further and further away, Persis sommersaults to your side and aims a blow there, trying to force you into the wall.

Galder throws himself to the side, towards the way that they had come, trying to get closer to Rah.

Back through the gas-filled room? You aren't wearing a filter mask like Persis!

Persis checks his forward somersualt as you try and move past him. His sabre shoots out towards you and pierces a mere inch in front of your face as it burns into the wall. Your movement is checked, but you have time to act as Persis pulls his sabre back...

Score: Persis 3, Galder 0.

Galder to attack

Galder charges at Persis, trying to knock his opponent's lightsaber out of position with a powerful (well, as powerful as it can be in Galder's condition) and then swinging back again across Persis' chest.

You push yourself forwards and slam into close contact with Persis, who is surprised by your turn of strength. Your sabres clash, and you cannot seem to move his out of position, but he cannot force your away either, and a few moments later he disengages, backs up, and growls.

Round drawn- goes to attacker.

Score: Persis 3, Galder 1.

Persis to attack

"Time to end this..." says Persis.

He starts with a lightning-fast jab in your direction with which he plans to flick away your guard, followed by light, fast strokes at your sides.

Galder blocks his jab with a reliable slash downwards and to the left or right so that he directs the saber a little bit farther from his body. He tries to lock and slide his blade down towards Persis' arm.

You catch Persis' blade and deflect it. He twists it in a circle to get past your guard, your sabres lock again... but this time Persis's attack is the superior and he sends you stumbling back. He presses in for the kill...

Round drawn- goes with attacker

Score: Persis 4, Galder 1.

Galder, you stumble back against the wall, weak and beaten. Persis smiles as he steps forwards...

... and sidesteps and spins, as Rah advances towards him.

This is now a two-on-one fight. The same attacker/defender routine carries on, except that on your side, a different one of you is making an attack or being the defender each time. The other one of you may try and make a supporting move to disadvanatge Persis- though only the 'primary' player can actually score the point. If Persis wins this fight, the one of you that has lost the most rounds gets hit- as Galder has lost 4 already, that will almost certainly be him.

As the circumstances of the fight has changed, each side loses a point.

Score: Persis- 3, Galder/Rah 0

Rah to attack.

As Persis turns to face him, Rah feints with an over head spin (only one blade lit). At the last instant as Persis would bring his sabre up to block, Rah lights the other half of his sabre, drops down, reverse spins it to take out Persis' legs.

(I am waiting a little while after each move to see if a supporting attempt is made- not this time, it seems)

Persis is caught out after having such easy victories against Galder. He falls your feint and only his great reflexes allow him to jump back, almost stumbling, to safety from your leg shot.

Score: Persis- 3, Galder/Rah- 1

Persis to attack, Rah to defend.

Persis, angry, steps forwards and thrusts his guard forwards in a powerful bash designed to knock your own guard to one side, Rah...

Rah continues to spin,spinning to one side, allowing the momentum of Persis' thrust to carry him past. He then makes a small counter jab backwards as he re-positions himself to attack....

It's good. Persis' anger is reducing rather than increading his focus- he always was hasty. He slips past you and nearly falls, before turning and snarling at you both. By now, you have recovered, Galder, and can move forwards...

Score: Persis- 3, Galder/Rah- 2

Galder to attack.

Galder charges forwards again, trying to get into a close combat with Persis. But not too close. He swings upwards towards Persis' neck, but checks at the last moment and swings for the legs. If blocked, Galder swings towards Persis' neck again and then the legs again, repeating the process.

With new vigour born of hope, you launch into your counter-offensive. Pesris spins and your blades clash, up, down, up again, but with Rah moving in on hise side Persis is forced to fall back and re-think...

Round drawn. Goes with attacker.

Score: Persis- 3, Galder/Rah 3

Persis to attack. Galder to defend.

To avoid Rah, Persis powers FORWARDS into you, Galder. Your sabres buzz and flash as he tires to send you sprawling with sheer forcr of body...

As the lightsabers crackle against each other, Galder rolls or jumps to the side and tries to trip Persis with his foot as he goes.

You can't move fast enough. Your body is just not responding properly. Persis slams into you as you move and you are sent sprawling to the floor. All Persis has to do is fend off Rah to finish you...

Score: Persis- 4, Galder/Rah- 3

Rah to attack. Match point to Persis.

This is not a good time for Rex to take a sabre wound. You two may flee- but that means abandoning the fight. You may not choose to split- you either both stay or both go. If you flee, you each have to survive a round.

As Persis moves past attacking Galder, Rah sings, gathers his force powers and 'pulls' at Persis to unbalance him. At the same time Rah moves forwards. As he did before, he feints a blow to the head, swings down as if going for the legs again but instead, as Persis blocks down with his sabre Rah brings down his other blade in a fast arc aiming for the Persis' neck/shoulder.