Sexy Shirtless Showdown Style
Getting out alive would be good. Yeah. Chandra rose from the console, leaving no evidence that he had touched it and carefully creeping across the room, heading for the exit. Getting out should be even easier than getting in- all the guards' eyes were firmly pointed away from where he was now, after all. It would be nice to save the prisoners or get that sword, but it would be nice to do a lot of things. Now was the time to be sensible and do the safe thing, returning in triumph to the others with new information in hand.
So why hadn't he left the room yet?
Varahi was standing there, barking orders into her communicator.
Multiple objectives achievable with limited compliance of enemy commander. Profile cross-referenced with personal skills and current status suggests obtaining compliance is feasible with moderate difficulty.
Bullshit. That was such bullshit. What are you doing, Chandra? Didn't you just decide that being flashy and drawing attention was an unacceptably Ravana thing to do? Why are your feet taking you to just behind the dragonblood in the middle of the open and why have you drawn your sword and
why are you talking to yourself right now?
For a brief moment, Chandra seriously considers the possibility that he's being haunted by Ravana's ghost. Then he shakes his head and discards it. After all, Ravana's ghost would be suggesting a
lot more public intoxication. And would also be completely useless at stealth.
"Love the sword," Chandra says, leaning against a wall as if he had every right to be there. Varahi turns, almost lazily, one hand on her weapon's hilt.
Enemy commander is likely to be socially formidable; attempt to maintain conversational momentum.
"Thank you," she says, "Presumably you, or your friends, are responsible for the rockets, but this doesn't
look like some half-baked assassination attempt. What are you here for?"
"A duel. Sword against sword, I win I get your blade and the prisoners. You win, you get my blade. First to draw blood three times, but no actively trying to cut the other in half, just mark them. No armor, none of that crap. Just natural prowess and swordsmanship." Chandra says. "As a token of my good faith, let me remind you that I could have assassinated you if I wanted to."
"That's not a particularly fair trade. My blade's rather nicer than yours, to start with. And a blade for a blade and the prisoners? Especially that cheat?" Varahi asks. "I need something more."
"Another trophy, then. My shades." It hurts him to say it, but he has to. He's doing something
good here. "You win, you can take them. Of course," he says, mostly to reassure himself that he won't lose his
precious shades, "you won't win."
"Oh, very tempting," Varahi says, smiling, stepping out of her powered exoskeleton, clad in the lightly-armored environmental suit worn underneath military armor, "That'll get you the
Astra, but the prisoners and the cheat? You'll need a little more than
that." She grins, flips a ring out of her pocket. "So here's the deal: when I win, I get to mark you with
this little dear. Magical sigil, on your hand, or maybe your forehead. Just to tell the world who beat you for the six months till it fades." She draws her blade, tentatively waiting for Chandra to respond.
Attempt to maintain conversational momentum: failed.
Chandra discards his own armor, and does her one more. He throws his jacket and shirt away, revealing bronzed muscles toned by a lifetime of harsh physical activity, glistening with sweat. He is naked above the waist save for a pair of armored gloves, and it makes him perversely more confident. He's like one of those holovid action heroes, having a dramatic duel for the fate of nations while millions watch. Of course, here he's dueling for something much less important, and there is no audience in the empty command center, but even the most powerful hero has to start
somewhere, he tells himself. And if he wants to help uphold Ravana's legacy, free Ravana's brother, he
knows, inside, that he has to become a hero.
He circles the Dragonblood with his own, much smaller blade up. He evaluates her stance. She's probably got the better weapon but he's got speed and power. He needs to strike fast, strike hard, and keep her on the defensive. It's entirely winnable. He has more than
a chance. Even space and time are on his side, elements far more fundamental than those Varahi controls. How can he lose?
Still, no reason to be stupid. He follows Varahi's blade with his eyes, making sure to not focus solely on her blade hand. She still has feet, she may still feint, she isn't some sort of half-trained planetary defense force soldier who barely knows how to hold a sword. Her movements are similarly probing and tentative. Both of them know this dance, two skilled opponents waiting for an opening, too intelligent to actually commit to the first move before they've mapped out how the other will react. Tentative, probing, almost shy, like the first kiss of lovers.
Even Blade Style, well practiced. Favors her right hand slightly, likely natural. No obvious flaws in stance, peak physical condition. Likely augmented. Self-evidently an expert duelist.
"Mantis style?" says Varahi, "Don't you normally use two swords for that? What happened, lost the other?" Chandra suppresses a frown as he realizes that every woman in his life is better at quipping than him.
Chandra doesn't mind the lull in combat. He prefers the stalling, because it lets him buy himself more time, in the
most literal sense. Time slows, gradually, as he accelerates his own reactions and movement speeds beyond his already-superhuman levels. He needs time and an opening, and then he needs to break her guard as quickly as possible and then hit her. Ideally, he'll win before she can act. Otherwise-
Move.
Varahi leaps forwards, combat is joined.
Pick One: Defense
Remember to stunt
[ ] Holy
shit she's fast! Teleport! (Reflexive Teleport, uses 3 motes, breaks flurries.)
[ ] We can take this, keep defending!
Pick One: Offense
Remember to stunt
[ ] Accelerate first, then fight. (Speed 5, 2 motes)
->[ ] Attack immediately after accelerating!
->[ ] Aim, then attack.
[ ] Full out assault, no time to waste on Acceleration. (Speed 4)
[ ] Careful. Aim then attack, evaluate her defenses. (Speed 3)
Combat Order:
Tick 0: Chandra Identifies Varahi's Even Blade Style, Varahi Identifies Chandra's Mantis Style.
Tick 1: Varahi Aims
Tick 2: Nothing Happens
Tick 3: Currently Being Voted On
On the Added Stake:
I
did tell you to add an extra stake.
(New 1 Die Principle:
Don't Lose To Varahi)
Status: 2 LHL Taken. No Wound penalties. 20 motes spent, 12 recovered. 8 mote net loss. 2 WP spent, 1 WP regained. One Compassion Channel, One I Hate Time Bullshit Channel, used. 16 exp this arc. Anima flaring at 1-3 level.
