MAUSOLEUM END OF CAMPAIGN SABRE DUEL- Xeth vs. Rah

THE SET-UP: The final confrontation of the plotline is now upon the players. On the remote, dying forgotten planet of Zeiton- battleground of the Sith Wars, and quarantined in secret milennia ago by the Jedi, lest the remarkably force sensitive Zeitonians tear themselves apart with knowledge of the Force that is so lethal to them- Kuylen has found his target, the Mausoleum of Demnos, where Darth Demnos once led his cult and, so the legend goes, sacrificed himself to become one with his tomb and teach future generations of the Sith. The truth of the legend, no-one yet knows.

Deep in the bowels of the Mausoleum, the huge double doors in the wide circular room that lead to Demnos' tomb are the final obstruction between the Dark Siders and the power they seek. These doors do not yield to any conventional means, but the tablets from, the planet Avalar Kuylen recovered in the first story have given him the means to open the doors by ritual.

Gundark's Jedi team has penetrated the Mausoleum at the final moments, and now she, and the Knight Roan and the Renegade Jedi Xeth, confront Kuylen, backed by Galder and Rah, at the entrance to the tomb.

As the Mausoleum starts its death throes due to Chion's activation of the nearby vengeance device, that threatens to wipe out all life on the planet, the final duels begin as the Jedi make one last attempt to stop Kuylen's seemingly unstoppable destiny.

HOW THIS WORKS: Well, everyone knows how to duel by now. But the stakes are now too high. There is no retreat from this duel. However, a loser will still be able to retreat as normal.

Another twist to this fight is that I will be inviting variable speeds, rather than making sure everyone has to duel at the same speed. Therefore, regularity of posting will make some duels faster than others!

ANALYSIS: A delightful evens. Xeth and Rah are identically skilled and boht acrobats! So this should be an entertaining fight to watch!

The pressure, however, is on Xeth. Nearby, Gundark fights Kuylen; a fight she has little chance of winning alone. One of the Jedi needs to dispatch his opponent and come to the Master's aid, or all is lost.

The Jedi have come to stop the Dark Siders, so they go first.

Score: Xeth- 0, Rah- 0

Xeth to attack

Rah glares at Xeth with contempt.
"Lets see what you've got then little bug man!" he sneers menacingly.

With one blade lit and held high Rah awaits Xeth's first move...

"May the best insectoid win..." Xeth says, indicating himself, igniting his yellow lightsaber.

He rushes Rah, then jumps over him, twisting in midair and striking at his flank.

"Bring it on!" Rah taunts as he prepares to stand his ground.

When Xeth twists in mid air Rah brings his blade up to block, as he does this he matches Xeth's twist, turning it into a combined spin.

As the joint spin breaks apart Rah delivers a vicious elbow blow to Xeth's side.

In the opening clash, Xeth most certainly gets the edge with timing. He is just a little faster than you planned for, Rah, and instead of being able to follow up your block, the effort of blocking in time sends you stumbling backwards!

Score: Xeth- 1, Rah- 0

Rah to attack

Rah grins wickedly and grunts "Humf!"

He points his sabre at Xeth, then rushes in low as if to strike at Xeth's legs. As he starts to duck down as if about to roll, he suddenly, with well practised acrobatic ease, jumps up into a spin with his sabre held out towards Xeths head.
As he spins he ignites the other blade so that one points frontwards and the other to his rear.

Xeth grins back, saying nothing.

Xeth leaps up into the air and behind Rah again, putting some distance between himself and the crazed Dark Jedi.

"Master Marcus told me that you like to sing..."

Rah advances, spins and attacks, and Xeth jumps up nimbly out of the way... Rah's blows do not hit home but Xeth is, at least, on the defensive.

(Round drawn- goes with attacker)

Score: Xeth- 1, Rah- 1

Xeth to attack

(BB says: )

Xeth turns to face Rah again, then aims a few simple jabs at his legs, then a strong one suddenly at his chest.

Instead of moving away from the leg jabs as would be expected Rah moves diagonally forwards and spins nimbly around Xeths side bringing his sabre round towards Xeths wings trying to make the bugman over balance.

It's close... it is very close... Rah's otuflank is well-timed, but Xeth turns quickly and meets the blade dead-on, keeping his balance, and forcing Rah to exert himself more as he moves further...

(Round drawn- goes with attacker)

Score: Xeth- 2, Rah- 1

Rah to attack

Feeling a little frustrated and angry at his lack of result so far Rah starts to sing letting the frustration and anger flow through the song.
Focused he launches himself at Xeth with his sabre spinning towards his head.
As the blade spins he twists the handle seperating them, the right hand blade still whirls round for Xeths head whilst the left hand one is thrust forwards for his chest.

Xeth gets down and rolls off diagonally to the right, keeping his blade up in case Rah's blows do get to him.

"What a nice singing voice. I suppose if you weren't a twisted evil creature you'd be up on the charts with Figrin D'an and the Modal Nodes..." Xeth taunts.

It's staying on the money! Again, neither fighter can get the advantage; Xeth counters Rah's blows but it still unable to find an opening beofre he replies with a blow of his own...

(Round drawn- goes with attacker)

Score: Xeth- 2, Rah- 2

Xeth to attack

The room shakes with a discharge of power from the Vengeance device, and a great crack suddenly forms througfh the centre of the room...

The Mausoleum is starting to shake to pieces.

Xeth looks about as the Mausoleum shakes violently.

"I have a bad feeling about this..." Xeth mutters, then slashes upwards at Rah's elbow, aiming to lop off his arm, then brings his blade over across Rah's chest.

With his blades already seperated he uses one to block the elbow strike and brings the other down on Xeths sabre arm.
Rah revels at Xeths uneasiness from the tremors and matches his voice to the frequency.

This time Xeth wins a distinct advantage. Rah's response is speedy but mistimed- driven back, he trips over a crack forming in the floor behind him.

Score: Xeth- 3, Rah- 2

Rah to attack

Some debris starts to fall from the ceiling also...

"That tune you are screeching out is quite painful to listen to," Xeth says, awaiting the next blow.

"hehe..." With a sarcastic grin Rah releases an almighty ear splitting screech as he launches himself at Xeth. With his left blade he feints to Xeths right and as it is blocked, suddenly reverse spins bringing both sabres to bear on Xeths left one high the other low.

Xeth ignores the ear-splitting screech, used to the screeches his sonic blaster makes, and jumps over Rah's blows by flipping to the right of him.