Colonel Shanree Argentin vs. Master Windos

Located within the Moddell Sector of the Outer Rim territories, the Endor system is a well known location of much importance to the Galactic Civil War. This was the location of the destruction of the second Death Star, and the deaths of both Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader. It was this victory and this location that allowed the Rebel Alliance to become the New Republic.

The Forest Moon of Endor, designated IX3244-A, is the ninth moon of the planet Endor. Its surface is covered in dense forests of redwood trees. Several of these trees were connected via wood plank bridges and walkways by the local Ewok population, who made their homes within the trees, high above the forest floor.

You have arrived at night. The thick foliage of the trees blocks out almost all external light sources, making it very difficult to see without naturally or artificially enhanced vision, or at least some kind of light. The sounds of nearby streams can be heard, as well as the chirps of thousands of nearby insects and birds. As you begin to settle into the business that brought you here, the loud, startling “TOOO-ROOOO!” of some kind of horn rang out nearby... then another in the distance, and another.

The woods of the Sanctuary Moon were abuzz with life. All around him the night was filled with the hum and drone of tiny insects chirping and flitting about. To see as a Miraluka was to perceive the world through the Force, not with eyes detecting the reflection of light but with senses that gathered-in an abundance of information. Windos trod softly, his hood pulled up over his silvered hair and he listened, letting the cool air carry wafts of soil and foliage past him. Small twigs and fallen leaves crunched lightly under the tread of his boots, accompanied by the soft swish-swish of his jedi robes trailing along behind him.

There were other sounds in the night, other critters besides insects. The distant horns of Ewoks, the indigenous sentients of this moon, sounded with deep resonate bellows. The sound carried in the night air, bouncing between the thick trunks of the native red wood trees, making their approximate distance impossible to judge from the ground. Windos stopped to listen to the night, expanding his awareness within the Force to get a better lay of the land around him. Somewhere out here was a creature more dangerous than most. That creature crouched above him, still and silent.

Shanree Argentin watched the Jedi Master below him in the same way that Windos had looked around himself– not with biological eyes but with the Force. A Miraluka as well, Shanree perceived the world in a complex way informed by the mystical Force that bound all living things together. He silently observed the Jedi below him. The Headmaster of the Brotherhood was calm but tense, wound up with the anticipation of what was to come but practiced in stilling his body and mind with the Jedi arts. There was little doubt in the Colonel’s mind that he could take the man in a fight, he’d studied his dossier after all, but that did not mean he knew everything about him. A hunter was best served to watch his prey before choosing the right time to strike. Perched upon a tree limb a dozen meters above the forest’s floor, Shanree crouched motionlessly and quiet as a Durosian Mouse. He drew the Force into himself and blended into the background of the forest surrounding them filled with life. To the other Miraluka, seeing through the Force, he was all-but invisible.

Windos made his way forward into a small hollow. At the far end was a tangle of twisted durasteel and the now well-worn scars of its fall from the sky 44 years earlier when Luke Skywalker had destroyed the first of the Emperor’s Death Stars. The rain of flaming durasteel had reportedly wreaked havoc on the forest moon lighting enormous wildfires and extinguishing entire species of alien creatures. Time had a way of healing all wounds however and the forest itself proved resilient, though the worst of the devastation had missed this portion of the moon and the twisted pile of durasteel was its only remaining sign post.

Shanree slipped down from his perch, landing upon silent feet. He moved with great stealth, picking his foot placements carefully. He moved like a shadow, a void moving in the nighttime cover of the dense forest. Windos’s head moved around as he entered the hollow, as if he were looking around him, but he did not sense the approach of the Taldryanite special operator. Shanree reached over his shoulder, grasping one of his Wroshyr wood hilts and pulled it noiselessly from its sheath. His leg muscles coiled, and fueled by preternatural strength, they launched him forward.

Windos reacted instantly. He did not know where the attack was coming from but the tingle down his spine told him it was coming nonetheless. An experienced soldier, he threw himself into a pivoting spin without hesitation. A round light-shield crackled to life as he spun and drew his lightsaber. Shanree’s initial attack, the mass of his Wroshyr wood light saber hilt used like a fighting stick, glanced off of the shield with a cracking thunk. He effortlessly transitioned to a follow-up attack by igniting the light saber blade of his weapon and thrusting its point towards his target. Almost noiselessly the emerald blade emerged from the hilt, but Windos turned away its tip with his shield, returning the thrust with one of his own. Shanree spun out of the way and whipped his own weapon back around, only for it to be blocked by the other Miraluka’s blade. The Headmaster bent his head down and put his shoulder behind his shield and surged forward. Off guard, Shanree took the shield on the chest and stumbled backwards.

“It was a good try, assassin,” Windos spat as Shanree regained his footing a couple meters from him.

The older Miraluka grinned behind his armored face mask, “What gave me away?”

Windos said nothing, but as if to answer on his behalf the wind chose that moment to gust. The Jedi Master’s heavy cloak barely noticed the breeze as he stood there with the mass of his body behind his light shield, “There’s no need for banter, let’s do what we came here to do.”

Shanree said nothing. He lowered his off-hand to the small of his back and drew a second forearm-length Wroshyr wood lightsaber hilt. The older Miraluka sank into a fighting stance as a second, matching, green blade arose from it. They stood there in the Endor night without moving, neither seeing the eerie emerald glow of Shanree’s lightsabers illuminating the forest hollow around them but both perfectly perceiving the other. Shanree was first to make a move. His dual sabers were a blur of motion. Windos expertly blocked and parried with his saber and shield. He kept looking for an opening, a way to take his opponent off-balance and change the momentum of the fight but the older, more experienced Shanree was seemingly indomitable and his attacks relentless.

Shanree struck low forcing Windos to similarly block low with his saber. The Colonel quickly thrust his other hand forward, striking the Headmaster with an unseen fist. Knocked off balance Windos hurled his light-shield at his opponent. Propelled by force-imbued strength it flew past Shanree’s head as he ducked under it. In the air it slowed and stopped before coming back at Shanree from behind. Windos’s hand had closed on something invisible and He pulled it back towards himself, causing the flying shield to hurl itself at the Colonel from behind. Its blunt impact was entirely unexpected, and though it did little enough damage through his light armor, Shanree was caught off-guard by Windo’s offensive turn. The Headmaster’s black-cored lightsaber thrummed and whooshed as he swung it at the Taldryanite keeping Shanree on the back foot.

It was Shanree’s turn to defend himself. The light shield lifted itself from the ground and flew back to its master’s hand as his flurry of strikes sought to keep Shanree off-balance. He attempted a riposte only to be rebuffed by the shield, and was answered by a jabbing strike that caught him in the forehead– the light-shield’s rim contacting his armored helmet. Again, the strike didn’t do much to harm him but the Colonel growled with frustration. He deactivated one of his lightsabers and plunged in close to Windos, dodging under a decapitating strike. He wove his Wroshyr wood hilt in between the man’s legs and wrenched, toppling him to the ground. Shanree put his weight behind his still-ignited saber and plunged it into the ground but missed the Headmaster who rolled away at the last moment.

Windos picked himself up from the ground in a scramble and attempted to get an attack in with his weapon. Shanree spun and his boot impacted the man’s hand, knocking his saber from it. He wasted no time and set upon the Headmaster with a renewed assault with both of his lightsabers. Every time Windos tried to move around him and summon his lightsaber, Shanree would move to keep himself between them and to keep Windos too busy to call the weapon back to his hand. It was all the Headmaster could do to duck, dive, dodge, and block the Colonel’s onslaught of attacks. Several of Shanree’s attacks got through his vigorous defense however, but to Shanree’s chagrin the tips of his lightsabers buzzed angrily as they were met by a personal defense force field rather than flesh. The shield crackled in response and gave up with an audible pop and crack as the unit short-circuited. Windos angrily grabbed at the device on his belt and hurled it away.

Panting, Windos held the light shield between him and Shanree, wary of the next round of attacks, “Not bad, not bad… Your lightsaber form is good, but I heard you know Teras Kasi.”

Shanree grunted, a little surprised the Shadow Academy’s head docent had a file on him, “I studied under Broos Ri. I read in your dossier that you know some Echani?”

Windos betrayed no emotion but Shanree sensed a mild amusement from him, “I took a class or two. Show me your martial arts.”

Shanree was himself amused; He allowed his target to slowly reach behind him and draw out a long metal baton with a spherical jewel from his belt. The Headmaster twirled it in his hand to test its weight and limber up his arm. The Colonel chuffed and deactivated his lightsabers so that he only held his matching Wroshyr wood hilts in his hands. He spun them performatively as he sank into a distinctive Teras Kasi fighting stance.

“It's funny, I know what your play is,” Shanree said from behind his armored mask, taking a deep breath to recharge his stamina, “but I don’t care. I live for this sort of thing.”

"Good."

Windos stopped twirling the scepter. His right hand still throbbed where Shanree's boot had struck it. He tightened his grip and pointed the jeweled head towards his opponent.

Shanree struck it aside and stepped inside its reach.

The first wooden hilt cracked against Punga. Windos turned the shield to catch it, and the second hilt struck his forearm. Before he could bring the scepter around, a knee drove into his thigh. His leg buckled but he caught his weight on the other foot and thrust the shield forward.

Shanree yielded under the heavier man's shove, then slipped around its edge. An elbow hammered Windos' ribs. His armor spread the impact, but the breath left him in a grunt.

Windos swung for the Colonel's knee. Shanree stepped over the scepter and rapped the Headmaster's knuckles with a hilt.

The fingers spasmed. Windos clamped them shut before the weapon could fall. He crowded Shanree again, denying him the space for another clean strike. Their weapons scraped together. Windos drove through the contact with his shoulder, forcing the taller man to turn rather than hold his ground.

Behind Shanree, Matau stirred in the leaves.

The Colonel's head remained facing Windos. One boot slid back and hooked Matau, flicking the weapon farther away.

"You'll have to do better than that."

Windos answered with the scepter. Shanree pinned the shaft against his forearm with a hilt and twisted. Pain flared through the Headmaster's wrist. Instead of fighting the leverage, Windos released his grip.

The scepter hung between them for an instant, then wrenched sideways under an invisible pull. Shanree let it go before it could drag his arms across his body. Windos caught it again behind his shield.

Windos risked a moment to allow the warmth of the Force to seep through his injured fingers. The swelling subsided, and his grip steadied.

Shanree let his next strike brush the restored grip, testing it. Then his boot drove toward Windos' knee.

Windos turned Punga downward, catching the boot on its rim. Shanree pushed off the shield and landed beyond the scepter's reach. Both green blades sprang silently from their hilts.

The Headmaster sent a crushing weight through the air toward him.

Shanree sprang aside. The blow smashed into the ground where he had stood, scattering soil and snapping an exposed root. His escape carried him clear of the line between Windos and the fallen lightsaber.

Windos clipped the scepter back onto his harness. Matau flew into his waiting hand.

He caught Shanree's returning attack with the black-cored blade.

This exchange felt familiar. Windos kept his movements close, turning each strike just far enough to miss flesh. Punga covered the angles his lightsaber could not. His boots worked through the churned leaves in short steps, never crossing.

Shanree attacked from above, then below, using a root as a springboard to change sides. Each landing became another strike. Windos answered with a cut toward the forearm rather than the throat. The Colonel withdrew it before the blade arrived and retaliated against his saber hand.

Punga caught the green blade. Windos felt the impact through his elbow.

Shanree was learning where he preferred to put that shield.

A horn sounded beyond the hollow. Neither man turned.

Their circling brought them alongside a massive chunk of wreckage. Wet moss covered the lower plates and torn ribs of metal leaned against a redwood's trunk. Windos stepped beneath one of them, forcing Shanree to approach across a narrower strip of ground.

The Colonel returned one hilt to its sheath.

Windos planted his feet as blue-white forks burst from Shanree's free hand.

A translucent shell curved around Windos. The discharge struck it and spread across its surface in branching threads. His jaw tightened under the effort. Beyond the edges of the shell, the tendrils of Force-imbued energy arced to a durasteel plate. The moss that spotted it smoked.

Shanree stopped the discharge. For two breaths he stood almost still, drawing on the life surrounding the hollow. The tension eased from his shoulders. His breathing settled.

Windos lowered the shell. He had earned himself a pause, but his opponent had made better use of it.

Shanree drew the sheathed hilt, ignited it, then swiftly tested the narrow approach with a low sweep.

Windos caught it on Matau and drove Punga toward his chest. The Colonel pivoted around the shield, bringing his other blade across the Headmaster's shoulder.

Fabric scorched. The metal woven beneath it resisted long enough for Windos to wrench away. Heat bit his skin.

Shanree could work here. He had simply made his movements smaller.

Windos had room to leave a gap. Instead, he advanced, bringing his weight behind the shield. Shanree met him with a thrust that forced Matau across his body. The second blade scraped Punga's edge, searching for the wrist behind it.

Windos held his ground and pressed his will against the currents feeding Shanree's strength.

The Colonel's next burst of speed faltered. His blades remained precise, but drawing on the Force now demanded effort. He settled his feet and closed the distance without another leap.

Windos could feel the pressure of maintaining that interference. He kept it there anyway.

Shanree angled one blade toward Windos' knees and raised the other beside his shield.

Windos lifted Matau and stepped into the Colonel's reach.