I was going to go with a silly story, but since I am a huge fan of Combat scenes, I decided to have my Mandalorian Lieutenant ex-bounty Hunter here (Pib Dosa. Yes, it's a pun) meet my currently employed Argonian Bounty Hunter (Dax).
Hope you enjoy. Also, I took a note from Death Battle and had two endings. Even if that might disqualify me from the race, hey, it was fun to write even if I took awhile.
Somewhere between the Whiterun tundra and The Pale... Letting out grunting cries, the Elk staggered up the small rise, stubbornly clinging to its survival. The arrow within its flank left an easily track-able blood trail. The beast was understandably panicked, its leg muscles churning against the shaft embedded in its body, causing it great pain.
Dax lamented hurting such a creature for longer than needed. It was in his nature to finish prey quickly. He pursued, crouched low and making his way to a higher slope a few dozen meters north, hiding behind one of the many boulders that dotted the landscape. He drew another arrow and waited patiently, the Elk about to make it to the top of the short rise. He prayed to the Hist that this next shot would fell the creature, for he held it no ill will. It had been a perfect shot, but the wind had picked up and caused his arrow to strike the Elk's back leg.
Now that he had an easy view of the Elk, he knew this next shot was too close for the wind to do much damage. Dax placed one of his legs atop one of the smaller rocks to gain a bit of elevation, pulling his bowstring taut and waiting for the opportune moments He felt the time to fire nearing. The Elk was just within his sights...
A white blur leaped from the boulder atop the Elk just as it made it to the height of the rise. It was humanoid in shape, with strange, form fitting armor perhaps. It killed the Elk brutally, arm pumping as it stabbed the beast over and over, finally slitting its throat as it fell to the ground with a curious blue blade it held in its hand. Was that an Elvish weapon? Perhaps it was Glass, even. Dax realized he understood very little of what this shelled stranger was, much less who it could be.
He suspected that its shell was a sort of full body armor, and not this thing's skin. But it was unlike anything Daixanos had ever seen. The Argonian watched as this 'man' began to skin the Elk with his blue knife, using practiced cuts as if he'd done this before. It only took a short few moments before the man noticed Dax looking at him from the slope, bow in hand.
Pib Dosa stood up, having wiped his virbroblade on this native creature's hide. "This world seems too cold for your like, Trandoshan," he said. His voice echoed both within his helmet, and without. Somehow Dax could easily hear it. though it gave him little clarity as to what this one was speaking of. This newcomer spoke with a surety, it appeared.
Dax could not see the man's eyes from within his helm, but Pib was admiring the bow and Axe Daixanos carried. "Rudimentary weapons. Admirable," he admitted. He too examined Daixanos. This Trandoshan was certainly shorter than most, though still muscled and perhaps slightly taller than the Mandalorian himself. His tail was elongated, perhaps a enhancement Pib was not familiar with. He could be a Saurin subspecies. "What planet is this?"
That took Dax off guard. "Planet?... This world is called Nirn."
"Must be a in the Outer Rim..." Pib muttered to himself, before looking back to Dax. He gestured to the slain Elk, voice confindent. "Did I steal your kill?"
"Yes," Dax replied.
"The kill is mine now," Pib declared. His hand strayed to his DC-15A Blaster Rifle. "But it can be yours if you have the strength to take it."
Pib held no illusions. Transdoshans were avid hunters, and when they were cheated out of a kill, they would seek to settle the score. Little did he know that Dax was not quite so bloodthirsty. Unless pushed of course, which was exactly what was occurring.
Daixanos locked stares (he believed) with the Mandalorian. Even without seeing his eyes, and at this distance, he could tell they now stood upon the edge of a knife. He didn't know what this armored stranger was about to do, but he was sure that it was something Dax needed to be ready for. He looked confident at this range, which meant he had some sort of ranged capability.
Daixanos was about to speak once more, when Pib Dosa whipped out his Blaster Rifle and open fired. Even as he moved, Daixanos rolled behind the closest boulder on instinct, barely avoiding the lasfire that burned the landscape.
"Kaoc!" Dax cried, using the Jel word for what the Cyrodiil populace would consider 'shit!' By the Hist, what magic was this? No, no, it was not magic. That was nos stave the man was carrying, nor did Dax get that uneasy feeling whenever he had to deal with a mage. No, somehow, this was something different.
Quickly, he lifted himself above his cover and aimed his bow in a swift, fluid motion. Only to realize the man was gone! A thrumming noise from above betrayed his position.
Pib Dosa had used his jump pack to leap high into the air, going up the slope and now over Daixanos' cover. He aimed to fire, but was hit by an arrow, shot more out of a honed reaction by Daixanos than anything. It hit him in the chest, and though it did not break his Katarn armor, it sent him back in the air, his height advantage now lost. He was losing power to his Jump pack as well, for it was only supposed to be employed for small jumps. Pib had to land again back onto the middle of the slope.
He growled, and charged up the rise with his rifle at the ready. That Trandoshan was a fine shot, he admitted. Killing him would be quite the honor. Legs pumping, almost leaping from rock to root in order to gain speed up the slope, Pib made good time. He was just as surprised as anyone would be to find that Daixanos had disappeared. That is, until he saw movement in his peripheral vision.
Something had rustled the bushes in the wooded area not twenty meters away. Pib Dosa regarded the forest for a moment, trepidation and a thirst for combat welling up inside of him. He reloaded his DC-15A, and was about to pursue the reptilian alien into the frosted woods of this strange world before he halted. Realization hit him, for his armor was too much of a stark contrast to the trees, even with such heavy snow. He knelt down, and reached into the dirt to smear some of the chilled mud onto his armor. He was no fool, as this Trandoshan would soon find out.
Moments turned to minutes, Dosa keeping still just as much as he moved, going from tree to tree in tactical maneuvers. A veteran of jungle fighting, he grew up on the heavily forested planet of Dathomir and killed far more terrible things than this Trandoshan, even as formidable as he appeared. Still, he had to give Dax credit, for moments after he thought such things, he seemed to have found a cleverly laid trap. He knelt down before it.
Thin sinews of rope, hidden under ubiquitously laid brush was just along his path. He followed the string, seeing it loop around a tree to his right, looping once more upwards, to hold up a small log that would have snapped downward to slam into whatever had tripped the rope.
"Clever," he muttered, and stepped over the rope carefully.
An arrow sliced out of the forest. Dosa reacting on pure instinct, he spun on his feet, carefully avoiding both the arrow and rope with his intense and disciplined reflexes. Unfortunately, the arrow had severed the rope. The heavy limb now a subject of gravity, flying downwards. Pib Dosa dived, narrowly avoiding the log as it thudded into the earth.
The Mandalorian's dive turned into a tactical roll to end up on his knees, Blaster Rifle now firing into the arrow's last known source location. Lasfire flashes lit the forest. If Dax had stayed put, he would have been disintegrated by the plasma based solid shots now punching through the brush.
The Hunter had not, however, and to the left of Pib, Daixanos sprinted out of the forest with another arrow nocked and ready. He fired. Pib Dosa felt it was worth getting hit to strike this enemy back, and decided not to dodge. Perhaps it was based upon design, or perhaps it was the Manda testing him, but the arrow found itself embedded into the barrel of his rifle before Pib could shoot. Immediately, the Mandalorian could tell something was now off about his Rifle's firing capabilities.
Dax dropped his bow and reached for his Axe, now leaping and sending his weapon in a terrifying Arc. The Mandalorian swung his rifle in turn, for the DC-15A was a sturdy and heavy rifle, weighing in at 9.5 pounds. The Blaster Rifle hit the haft of the Axe, and the two bashed into one another and locked, the two testing each other's strength for a moment.
"Surely you can do better," Pib Dosa spat through gritted teeth. Dax merely growled in response.
The Mandalorian kicked out, his booted foot striking the Argonian's knee, causing Dax to grunt. Daixanos staggered, but used it to send his Axe haft down to jam into Pib's own leg, before shoving it forward to thrust into the Mandalorian's stomach, knocking the breath out of him. It was then Pib decided to switch tactics, dropping his Rifle and grabbing the haft of Dax's axe, and then jerking downward and to the left in a throw move, sending Dax flying end over end to hit the earth.
Pib pressed his knee onto Dax's chest, but the Argonian found purchase for his feet under the Mandalorian's abdomen, and shoved with his considerable leg strength. The Mandalorian flew, hitting the ground in a roll. Both made it to their feet simultaneously. Dax gave a growl that would have sent many Men quivering. Pib Dosa did not, and took out his strange blue long Knife. To Daixanos's surprise, another blue blade suddenly jutted out of Pib's opposite arm's bracers. The two took a moment to size one another up, measuring their stances and probable fight patterns.
Dax leaped forward, but not within Long Knife range, using his Axe as a thrusting weapon to send Dosa back. The Mandalorian sidestepped deftly, attempting to get within striking distance. Dax's powerful tail had been laying in wait, ripping the Mandalorian's feet out from under him. He hit the ground on his back, having barely any time to roll to the side as the great head of the Axe thudded into the ground.
The Mandalorian kicked Dax in the leg, even making a successful swipe with his Long Knife. It was a small cut on his calf, but Daixanos felt just how sharp that blade was. He did not know what sort of magicks it held, but he was not entirely sure his iron armor would be a suitable defense to it. Fortunately, Dax was too deep into combat to be anxious over his magick superstitions now. Pib Dosa jerked his legs, allowing him to leap upwards from a prone position without occupying his arms, landing in a crouch.
Poised and ready, it was his turn to go on the offensive. He cut and stabbed, Daixanos backpedaling, hands now holding his Axe as he would a PoleAxe, bottom on the middle and top near the head, to give greater control. He knew that he needed to think quickly, for the Knives were now a blue blur in his vision, and he moved on pure instinct to survive as he was forced back step by step to hit the base of a tree.
Pib stabbed with an underhanded strike, upwards, with his freehand Vibroblade. Daixanos growled, using the haft of his blade to knock that striking arm downward, forcefully, before his left hand let go of his own weapon and caught the arm of the wristblade before it could complete its own stab. Hist guide me! Daixanos' corded muscles were finally tiring, but he used the last bits of his strength to do a one handed downward cut with the head of his Axe, now so very closely pressed to the Mandalorian. It was a sign from the Hist, for the Axe head found a weak spot on this stranger's armor between the shoulder and the collarbone, slicing into the black fabric that seemed to keep the white plating together. Blood spurted out of the sudden wound, and Pib Dosa stepped back, trying to staunch the flow of blood with one hand while he held up his wristblade arm defensively.
Even with such a wound, he was ready to fight and die like a warrior it seemed. Daixanos would honor him, and moved forward, slashing to and fro. The Mandalorian did his best to dodge, and to his credit managed to, the first few times. But with the loss of blood, he was slowing. The Axe fractured his chest piece, sending the Mandalorian on the ground.
He still got up, and so surprised was Dax that the Mandalorian's lunge had his wristblade bury deep into Dax's flank. The Argonian howled, but ripping out his own skinning Knife, he jammed his own blade into the Mandalorian's weak point, burying it in Pib Dosa's throat and ending his life.
"A worthy foe," Daixanos said to the lifeless, frozen forest.
Pib stabbed with an underhanded strike, upwards, with his freehand Vibroblade. Daixanos growled, using the haft of his blade to knock that arm downward, forcefully, before he let go of his own weapon with his left hand and caught the arm of the wristblade before it could complete its stab. But he was off balance, and he knew it. Swift as a viper, the Mandalorian used his vibroblade to finally shear through the Axehaft, causing the head to fall to the left and leaving nothing between the unarmed and tiring Argonian and Knife wielding Mandalorian save half a foot of empty air.
Dax pushed Pib away with his fading strength, only for Pib to slice downward on instinct, severing the Argonian's hand at the wrist. Daixanos cried out in pain and anger. Brutally, just as he had finished the deer, Pib Dosa slammed into the weakened Argonian and stabbed repeatedly, ending this strange Trandoshan's life on this strange planet, stab after stab. Daixanos the Hunter faded, and his soul found rest within his Homeland to be reborn many years later at the base of a Hist tree.
"Good fight, Hunter," Pib Dosa said, saluting the now fallen enemy.
Nightgate guys, your have three choices. Engage Dzuungits, protect Daelin or run away. Dzuungits can be killed, or Daelin can saved, if four or more people are committed to one of these things. Additional Kamals will fight alongside Dzuungits and try to kill Daelin. Anything but running away will include a dice roll. Running away will guarantee you no injuries.
The Kamals will be mostly on foot. This is only their impatient early half (~20), as the later half are slowly maneuvering their bears past obstacles. These guys are not the best fighters on foot, due to them being cavalries. You can find small openings in their medium armor. The armor metal itself can be reliably defeated by glass/ebony, or weakened by fire; note that Ji'Versai dropped a glass scimitar when he exploded. Firesalt is present in several barrels and can disorientate Kamals.
Nightgate guys, your have three choices. Engage Dzuungits, protect Daelin or run away. Dzuungits can be killed, or Daelin can saved, if four or more people are committed to one of these things. Additional Kamals will fight alongside Dzuungits and try to kill Daelin. Anything but running away will include a dice roll. Running away will guarantee you no injuries.
The Kamals will be mostly on foot. This is only their impatient early half (~20), as the later half are slowly maneuvering their bears past obstacles. These guys are not the best fighters on foot, due to them being cavalries. You can find small openings in their medium armor. The armor metal itself can be reliably defeated by glass/ebony, or weakened by fire; note that Ji'Versai dropped a glass scimitar when he exploded. Firesalt is present in several barrels and can disorientate Kamals.
Extra announcement: you guys can get started on Nightgate response and roll your own dice. I'll tell you the basic interpretation, while leaving the rest for you to write out. You obviously don't need to roll if your character's fleeing. We'll decide on the whole outcome once everyone made their choice.
From Bharzak's perspective, she'd probably be most likely to stay and fight or attempt to help Daelin, but would not attempt either of those two things alone. So it all really depends on how many others want to fight/flee/etc.
Rhasha would like to save Daelin, but is not so foolhardy as to do it by himself. He's also not cowardly enough to run away while others fight; basically, he's with the majority.
