Vodo stalked the dark corridor of the mining derrick. The message had been succinct and enigmatic enough to pique his interest. Here he was then, on this forsaken lava planet, seeking the secretive man who called himself DB. Vodo’s gut told him this was a set-up, an ambush, and he allowed himself to open up to the Force. He probed every nook, every corner, every junction in the corridor as he went seeking someone hiding from him. Entering a large congregation area the Warlord still sensed nothing and continued through the hatch leading to the shielded exterior of the derrick.
Vodo felt it right away; a shadow that lurked just out of view, concealing itself in the Force adroitly. He made no move or indication he’d discovered the hidden person and continued, ambling along, towards where they lay in wait for him. The walkway traced the exterior hull of the platform, perhaps three meters across to the railing from the wall, and was used as the occasional holding place of large crates. His man hid behind one of these.
A dark figure leapt from behind the crate, summersaulting as he cleared its height, activating a white lightsaber. Vodo wasted no time activating his own white saber. He deflected the initial blow to his side effortlessly and lashed out with a large, metal, cybernetic leg. The man, an Anzat, took the leg to the stomach and with a grunt stumbled backward. He caught himself on the railing and spun away from Vodo’s lightsaber which descended upon him shortly after. The rail sparked loudly as the saber crashed against it sending a cascade of durasteel slag in all directions.
The attack backed up a few meters and lowered his hood revealing the rest of his face, “Its good that you came, Biask.”
“Do I know you?” Vodo adopted a disinterested tone and he sized up the man.
“My name is Morax DarkBlade”, the Anzat’s smirk was mildly infuriating and Vodo would make a point to wipe it off his face before he left here.
Vodo heft his long hilt and pointed the weapon at DarkBlade, “Is that supposed to mean something to me?”
“To you?” Morax flourished his weapon, “No. But it’ll mean something to Rhylance when I return to him with your Lekku in my hand.”
The Dark Side was drawn to Vodo by the rush of emotions he fanned into life. He would end this pathetic upstart and return to the Fleet with his head, still smirking, and present it to the Consul as a gift of—endearment. This was not the first time Rhylance had hired someone to kill him and it wouldn’t be the last.
“Then come”, he uttered as he reached out and grasped at the Anzat.
The Force summoned the man’s body toward him powerfully, and though he seemed to be caught off guard by the attack, Morax only slide forward with half as much momentum as Vodo had anticipated. The Anzat was suppressing the Force. This afforded the Seer time to shift his weight, keeping his balance, and used the momentum to plant both his feet on Vodo’s chest after he batted away the Twi’lek’s saber. Vodo crashed into the ground behind him and pulled himself to his feet swiftly. Morax was already on his feet and the two locked blades, their faces illuminated by their white lightsabers. Vodo’s yellow eyes, flecked with red, sparkled dangerously in the ethereal light.
With a great roar he broke the saber lock and batted his opponent backward. Vodo did not let the man gain his balance though and pressed his attack. With the advantage of reach, both from his height and his saber’s exceptional length, the Warlord began to test and probe the Seer’s defense. Morax DarkBlade proved a proficient saber wielder but Vodo quickly discovered two vulnerabilities. The man seemed to rely upon orthodox forms of Soresu, a form of saber combat Vodo once studied to mastery, so it was easy to begin anticipating his parries and deflections. Second, it was clear Moreax had never combatted a weapon like Vodo’s. Few had and that was the point.
The long hilt, nearly a meter in length, was topped with a standard length blade which made it easy to poke and jab, to thrust and sweep. Wherever his blade was he could easily retract it and probe another weak spot. He jabbed quickly, keeping the pace up forcing the Anzat to dance to his tune. He never put too much strength into his attacks so that when his saber’s tip was deflected away he would move with it and attack somewhere else. Morax’s face was a mask of fury under the onslaught. The sheen of sweat from the planet’s ever-present ambient heat had already begun to soak Vodo’s own robes under his armor but he could feel the other man’s discomfort rising under the strenuous defense he was putting up.
Vodo thrust his saber at the Anzat’s face. Morax countered, predictably, by deflecting the strike up. A look of triumph flashed across Vodo’s face. As his blade rose into the air he launched himself up as well so that when he swung the weapon downward it came down with every ounce of his strength. DarkBlade had little time to react and chose, rather wisely, to slip from beneath the attack rather than meet it. Vodo’s weapon crashed into the durasteel deck plating of the walkway with a clamorous din. DarkBlade took advantage of his superior position and swung a powerful decapitating blow horizontally at the Warlord. Vodo caught the attack by twirling and swinging simultaneously. With a tremendous crack the two sabers locked again.
