Warlord Kindle Singean vs. Shadow Vigo Zakirov

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.

Kindle had been slow at moving through the forest of this new battle arena. Heavy foliage wasn’t exactly conducive to fast movement in heavy armor, regardless of how used to wearing it he was. At least he could see in the darkness fairly well, thanks to a mixture of his own biology and his helmet’s viewport.

A new opponent, a different fighting style to learn and adapt to, he was excited for it. Each step of progression up this tournament’s ladder had him feeling both more confident and concerned. Confident in his abilities and proving himself, concerned as each new battle was only going to get harder. He knew to not underestimate his next opponent and be prepared for anything, but at very least, for them to be even more of a challenge than the previous one.

Unfortunately, he was not prepared for outside interference.

It seemed as though the Combat Master was displeased at the lack of the local wildlife’s will to interfere in the previous fight too heavily, animals were often more cautious than people expected. However, this new location’s inhabitants seemed far more willing to throw themselves into the fray.

A multitude of horns sounding out was his only warning before the air suddenly filled with chatter in a language he didn’t know, only that it sounded angry and was quickly approaching. The first attack of this battle didn’t even come from his opponent, a wooden spear slamming into his armor.

In the minutes since, numerous furry creatures had swarmed in his direction. Darting between bushes and trees, stone and wood clanged against him from numerous sides. The frustration was undeniable, the hard swipes of his halberd to knock away what he could of the incoming projectiles took energy he was hoping to save for when his opponent appeared. He could have fought back, fired off what ranged options he had into the foliage, but between being uncertain of their exact locations and also wanting to keep them for his true foe, he was uncertain of how much would be wise.

For now, he kept charging ahead, trying to outrun what he could and avoid those he couldn’t.

As the large Hybrid’s foot swung forward yet another time in his running, an alarm screamed in the back of his mind and he leapt backwards as a large lung swung past him. Cursing the situation and thanking his training in Precognition, he turned to see a dozen visible creatures behind him with disappointed looks upon their faces - he could only imagine the amount hidden from him.

Preparing to finally make a stand, Kindle abruptly found himself surrounded by darkness.

“What the - “

Suddenly a figure dashed from the foliage and into the dark sphere he was within, an outstretched arm aiming to plunge a knife into the Mando’s neck and only with a very quick lift of his halberd’s shaft did he knock the attack off-course.

“Of course you have Darksight too,” muttered the assassin under his breath, taking a few steps back.

“You really wanna do this now? These creatures are going to decide this fight more than us at this rate!” growled the draconic warrior, gripping his halberd tighter and aiming it in the Umbaran’s direction.

“That’s why now was the perfect time - I didn't want to lose on a technicality that I hadn’t laid a single attack on you.”

Kindle swung his blade hard in Vigo’s direction, but the nimble warrior drew his sword and impacted it against the larger fighter’s own just enough to allow him to gracefully dodge the attack.

“If it’s any consolation, I don’t want to kill you, but your Beskar doesn’t leave many places available to strike.”

“The feeling’s mutual, but I’d prefer a fairer fight than letting these things do your dirty work,” the Sith stated flatly, waving his weapon towards the surrounding Ewoks that stared at the dark sphere they were still within, confusion and fear clear on their faces at the unknown.

“Sure, just take off the armor first.”

Singean stared at the man.

“That’s what I thought. Well, have fun,” commented Vigo as he quietly heaved a breath and dropped the Darkness while taking more steps back, clearly preparing to vanish into the foliage again.

Gasps of shock and awe came from the furred annoyances surrounding them, but their attention was quickly diverted as Kindle didn’t waste a second, slamming his halberd’s head to the ground.

“Thank you my friend for your aid from these horrifying creatures! Your protection is greatly appreciated!” Kindle shouted his ‘gratitude’ in Vigo’s direction before bowing deeply before him.

If the creatures didn’t speak his language, they clearly recognized his motions and many turned their attention to the new individual.

“What are you doing?” the Umbaran inquired, his own curiosity taking hold.

“Making sure they think you’re with me,” spoke the Hybrid, keeping his tone of appreciation to support his act even as his words revealed otherwise. “Now they think we’re working together, so it won’t just be me hunting you in this forest.”

“Clever bastard,” Vigo gave the insulting compliment before focusing on his Ghosting and vanishing from the Proconsul’s sight.

Hushed chatter amongst the Ewoks transpired quickly, many looking around in alarm for the invisible intruder to their lands, some even diving back into the foliage to hunt for him, while others kept their focus on the imposing armored giant before them.

Turning his horned helmet to look down at the creatures, Kindle couldn’t help but inwardly sigh. He had leveled the playing field, but the cat and mouse game was still on and these little interlopers were only going to make it more difficult.

A stone clanking against his helmet, followed by a lone cheer, brought him back to the reality of the situation. The Sith heaved a heavy sigh before abruptly turning and dashing into the woods again, battle cries erupting behind him as the Ewoks once again indulged in their hunt and followed him.

Somehow the Umbaran was still in the tournament despite the end of his last match. Maybe Zylrun had opted to go forth and sell the dragonsnake after all. Now Vigo was on Endor being chased by Ewoks… at night. Thanks to his Umbaran genes and prosthetic left eye, he was able to see the layout around him in greyscale.

He focused on the rush of his heartbeat in his ears, as he maintained his Force cloak. The Ewoks couldn’t see him, yet the master trackers were still hot on his trail thanks to all of the rustling of foliage as he moved. He needed to shake these creatures and find Singean before it was too late.

He paused at a tree. His back to the trunk. Think, Vigo, think! The Ewoks yub nubs grew closer with each breath. They were able to track him based on his movement through the plants… on the ground.

He looked up. The limbs of the trees were so close together he could hop from one to another with ease. Above he’d be able to spot Singean better. As he lowered into a ready position to jump he heard a “YUB” in his ear. How did he let himself get snuck up on? His head must not be in it. He sprang into the air, grasping hold of the tree limb, as he swung his legs around to get atop it. He maneuvered into a crouch, trusting his body to keep balance as he crouch-walked towards the edge of the branch, making sure to only walk in places it would still support his weight.

His eyes clocked the movement of the confused Ewoks below him. Out in the distance he saw the Barabel-hybrid taking long strides being chased by a band of furry beasts. Why had he not taken care of them? Vigo supposed the same question could be asked to himself. It would be difficult to fight Singean if they didn’t shake the little twerps. He began to carefully hop from tree to tree, trusting his body and in the Force, getting closer to the hybrid.

Vigo calculated the expected path that Singean was running and how fast it would take for the Umbaran to intercept. He dashed across a few more trees before calling to the Force to fill his very being, and jumped, dropping the Force cloak. He softly landed in the path of the Barabel hybrid. Stopping Singean in his tracks behind a large boulder. Vigo held up his pointer finger to his lips before fading into a sparkly shimmer. Not a split second later, those same sparkles coated the Mandalorian.

The band of Ewoks slowed to a halt before the boulder. This was the last location they saw the hybrid. Some sniffed the air, others waved their weapons around frantically. One of the Ewoks inspected the ground and the footprints left by the Mandalorian. Kriff. They'll find him if Vigo doesn’t do something.

If the Mandalorian moves, the illusion breaks. Vigo carefully knelt down. Pouring more of his might and concentration into the Force. It had been a while since he cloaked someone else as well. The tracking Ewok moved closer to Singean. Vigo grabbed a fallen twig at his feet, and tossed it farther into the woods.

All of their heads snapped in that direction.

“Yub yub?” One asked.

“Nub.” The one in front of Singean said. As one, they all started running toward the noise. The band of creatures slowly faded away chasing the red herring, just as Vigo planned.

The Umbaran let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding, and the Force cloaks blew away with the breeze.

“Their hearing and tracking skills are… Competent. We should duel with melee and avoid loud noises such as blasters and grenades.” A thick accent rolled out of the Umbaran as he spoke. He took in his opponents attire, noting the significant lack of blasters. Perhaps keeping the Ewok’s away would be easier than expected.

He equipped his Vibroblade, and lowered into a readied fighting stance. “Agreed?”

Kindle watched as the Umbaran’s plan worked, his head slightly tilting in curiosity. A war immediately erupted within his mind. Realistically speaking, the one who was built for more speed had leveled the playing ground to a degree. Kindle knew that with his larger frame he was more stuck to the ground as his weight proved a disadvantage towards any attempt to get to the high ground.

Every single SIth instinct in his mind rebelled against the growing whisper, its singular demand unwavering.

He had not learned to fight through some traditional training, he hadn’t been brought up with an ideal in mind. Stupid fairy tales he had only been hearing about for ten years should not be overriding a lifetime of fights for survival.

’The best knights win fairly,’ a little girl’s voice rang in his head.

’I thought I was the dragon?’ his past self retorted.

*’No one said you can’t be both!’ was the childish response.

Fool, roared the desire to win no matter what within himself.

A gauntlet-covered hand raised up and took hold of his horned helmet, pulling it from his head and latching it onto his belt.

“Agreed,” stated Kindle, as he willingly gave his opponent an opening to aim for.

Vigo, not being in the Mando’s head, simply raised an eyebrow in response but he wasn’t going to question such a thing - especially after having fought so many armored opponents recently…

Singean’s halberd quickly swung in the pale man’s direction, forcing movement from him abruptly. Kindle wasn’t going to listen to the aggravated voice in his head, but he could redirect and use the anger at himself instead towards his opponent.

The clang of metal resonated in the air around the two as they swung at one another repeatedly, blocks and dodges keeping the battle going as it was clear to each how this would end; the Mando’s exposed head was a single blow to victory, but with the strength of his swings, nearly the same could be said for if any of his attacks impact Vigo directly.

The sound of the search party still rang in the air, threatening to disrupt them at any moment. Neither warrior wanted to look in their direction to check, yet it was thought near constantly in their minds, a clock constantly ticking down.

The muscles in Vigo’s arm strained as he deflected another attack from the halberd, signalling to the man of his approaching limit. Careful eyes quickly scanned over Kindle and it was apparent he had gambled incorrectly - most Mandalorians seemed to be fans of blasters and were more lacking in melee combat, but as he had noticed earlier, this one appeared to be the opposite and his breathing still remained regulated, he wasn’t tiring nearly as fast as Vigo had hoped.

Still, he had planned to fight this armored opponent at this spot for a reason. If he couldn’t win this fight indulging in swordplay, there was one more card in hand.

Kindle was trained in martial combat enough to also recognize when his opponent was beginning to wear down and while his sense of honor had pulled the helm from his head, it would not deviate him from pushing an advantage when he could.

Growling in aggression, his attacks became faster, not letting up, the halberd being used at both ends to try and trip Vigo up, make him use more energy, tire him out faster before the furry nuisances returned.

Kindle’s halberd head slammed into the ground as another dodge was performed, but the large man leaned into it, lifting his feet up and slamming them into his chest, shoving him backwards before gripping onto it tighter and using the momentum to bring it to bear, forcing another quick dodge from a debilitating blow.

The larger warrior barely noticed that the Umbaran took a step further to dodge than was necessary.

Turning around to cleave across, Kindle noticed as Vigo ducked down under the attack and strangely swung his own blade not at the red-clad Mando, but near the ground to his side.

Slamming his foot into the ground to catch his stance and prepare for another attack, the Hybrid’s ear was caught by the sound of branches snapping for the briefest of seconds before a massive log rammed into his side and threw him back into the boulder the two had been fighting near.

Breath forced from his lungs, the Proconsul heaved, blood splattering to the ground as he landed on his knees. He attempted to get his breath back, desperate, but the heavy dent in his armor prevented the inhale.

“Yield.” Vigo stated flatly.

A snarl escaped his lips, but no air returned to him in the following second.

Unable to speak for waste of more air, Kindle nodded.

This Umbaran was weird. It didn’t really make sense as to why he helped his opponent lose the Ewoks. Was it some sort of personal gain? Or maybe he literally thought of this just as a duel and not to the death.

Singean looked the Umbaran up and down, contemplating the offer, seeing if his intentions were pure. He gave a swift nod in agreement. Both the paranoid warriors didn’t shake, as they were used to being stabbed in the back… Both figuratively and literally.

Singean unsheathed his halberd. He looked directly in the Umbaran’s eyes and the blade ignited in flames. The hybrid then sank down into a readied position.

Vigo squinted back. Somehow in the mix of the battles, he forgot that opponents trained in the art of fire wielding.

The two of them stood, circling each other. It became clear to Singean that if Vigo didn’t have his stealth advantage, he was not going to swing first. Rather he would likely wait for the incoming attack and use it to his advantage. Clever little Umbaran.

Singean decided to put an end to the stalemate, and heaved the weight of the halberd around his shoulder, toward the too cautious Umbaran. Vigo called to the Force once more, and he leaped. His feet barely missed the flame blade of the swing. He could feel the heat of the blade through his armor.

He landed, using the momentum from the jump to do a calculated fall. Lowering his body, he lunged. Zakirov used the spare half second that Singean used to recover from the follow through on the swing. Vigo straddled over the hybrid’s tail grabbing closer to the tip. This thing helped them with balance right? He pulled up with all his might, asking the Force for aid once more.

Singean smothered the fireblade as he swung the halberd around his body, in hopes to hit the Umbaran on his appendage. The Halberd hit true, striking the armor, cracking the chestplate down the center, sending the Umbaran’s balance off, as he spiraled toward the forest floor. But it was too late. Vigo had bent the tail to its limit. It broke backwards and Singean writhed in pain. The BioTech implant kicked in, masking most of the pain as the hybrid spun to the Umbaran with a fury in his eyes.

“My tail!” The hybrid swung the halberd again at the prone Umbaran. Vigo quickly rolled out of the way of the attack. Okay… Maybe he wasn’t less balanced. Well… Kark.

Vigo had to think of a way to get the armor off. But the armor prevented most physical damage. If only he could damage the body beneath the armor…

An idea sparked in Vigo’s mind. He lined up his movement with the attacks sent from the hybrid’s rage, to cover up his motives. Slowly dodging and rolling towards two thick trees that stood a small distance apart from each other. He stood up with his back to the trunk.

He unsheathed his vibroblade and lowered into a readied position making it appear he was finally ready to attack back.

Singean dashed at him, and Vigo smirked beneath his combat mask before dodging out of the way. Singean learned from all the Umbaran’s previous dodges and used the momentum to swing his halberd. The blade came too close for comfort, as Vigo twisted around. He called to the Force and landed a kick on the hybrid’s torso. Sending him flying into the tree. In the distance various Ewok noises sounded. A horn was blown, and a quiet chitter fell across the forest.

Vigo attempted to quickly dash again, taking the stunned time to reposition… But there wasn’t a stunned time. Singean just stood with his arms crossed.

“You Mandalorians are really karking annoying, you know that?” Vigo’s words spit like venom. He took a few steps backwards, further into the treeline as his heel tilted into the ground. Where did the ground go? He looked behind him for a quick second. There were tree branches and leaves blending into the surrounding ground. Was this what he thought it was? Yes, surely. This could work. All Vigo needed to do was to disable his jetpack. That pit should be deep enough.

Vigo smirked beneath his mask and ran at the Mandalorian. He called to the Force once more, like an old friend, and jumped. Singean swung but Vigo felt a tug, and twisted barely out of reach. He flicked his vibroblade, slicing the connecting ports on the hybrid’s jetpack. It fell to the ground with a loud thud.

Singean looked to the Umbaran with a puzzled look. That didn’t make any sense. They both agreed to quieter weapons and a jetpack surely wouldn’t be quiet enough. Vigo just shrugged like he hadn’t planned that, and that was purely a miscalculation on his part.

Vigo let the shimmer of the Force cloak cover him. He needed to get back to the pit.

Singean reached out the Force, waiting for any tug, any indication an attack was coming, as his eyes scanned his surroundings. Nothing came. Vigo maneuvered to the position he had marked in his mind. Just before the trap pit.

He uncloaked, with his arms crossed this time. “What’s the matter? Cat got your tail?” A thick accent rolled. He wanted his opponent mad. Remind him of the rage that fueled him. He wanted Singean to not think things through, just to run off anger.

Singean yelled, causing the trees to rustle and charged toward the Umbaran. Numerous Ewok “yub nub” were audible in the nearby trees.

He was prepared for Vigo to dodge as he had done multiple times before. The hybrid did not account for how Vigo, once again, weasled out of the next attack. When Singean was mere inches away from grabbing Vigo, the slick Umbaran dropped to his knees. The hybrid was unable to stop in time before he fell. The small branches barely covering the pit collapsed, and Singean plummeted.

Vigo stood over the pit, looking down, only able to see a pair of eyes shine back. The noises of the small creatures that hunted them earlier, were much closer. Vigo saluted, before fading into his cloak and walked away with a smirk on his face.