Choose your destiny! Flawless victory! [Inevitable Tournament Arc]

[meat_mooks]

No sooner did the Obs Deck descend to Arena Planet LXIII, and the crew allowed to disembark, than they were met by a veritable cloud swarm of cameras. Sleek, elegant things that might have been living, might have been machines, maybe were even magical... but were definitely nuisances as the swooped around to capture video of the crew at all conceivable angles, close up and far away. Their every move from this point on would be on camera.

In front of a small crowd of retainers stood what appeared to be a great circular orb whose only distinguishing features were a nose, and what appeared to be the most overblown mustache ever, which actually appeared to be supporting that two-foot-diameter orb at shoulder height to a tall man. Then the orb took a couple of steps forward,revealing that no, those were actually just really, really hairy legs. A seam cracked open on the creature, and in a voice loud enough to echo across the broad open plains without any need for amplification, it bellowed, "AND NOW! STRAIGHT FROM THE TRANSMIGRATION NINE VESSEL! OUR NEWEST COMPETITORS! FRESH TO THE STAGE OF BATTLE, BUT NO STRANGERS TO WAR--"

It went on like this for some time.

Under cover of this introduction, a small man that to all appearances seemed to be the love child of Richard Nixon and a particularly aggressive Furby stepped forward, and in a bored businesslike tone recited, "Welcome to the tournament. There will be one battle per day. The arena in which you battle will be determined by random draw. Our medical crew will perform all healing necessary and ensure no deaths so feel free to not hold back. Please refrain from accepting any bribes or favors from on-planet spectators--"

"--ARE YOU READY?!" the orb bellowed even louder than before, completely swamping the smaller man's recitation. "THEN STEP THIS WAY!"

And so saying, the orb and its procession began a clearly well-choreographed procession towards a large, medieval-looking fortress that hung dramatically just on the edge of clear vision. (Conveniently, this procession passed several large advertisements.)

Comments

[meat_mooks]

Down the knight went! The glow surrounding the armor turned aside the first blade, but the second one could not be fully deflected; it punched through the glow and the metal armor to open a narrow slash on Keladrisk's side. The shield swooped around to intercede as the knight struck aside Vadum's blade with a quick sweep of his blade, affording himself the opportunity to get to his feet again.

[shroudedintent]

Even as that quick sweep, struck aside his blade to give the knight opportunity to get to his feet, 'Vadum already had the knowledge he needed. In particular the manner in which the shield intercepted blows and the time it took to move. As such 'Vadum utilized his larger size to his advantage, striking first at one side of the knight before striking again from the other in rapid succession, keeping the shield in motion, something that would likely make the knight's own attacks difficult to execute with the shield's constant movements.

[meat_mooks]

While an excellent strategy, it was imperfect; the shield was smarter than it seemed, or at least more in tune with the combat rhythm of its wielder when he himself was active. The shield moved to catch the blows on the left side, while the knight himself parried or turned away the blows on his right with cool determination. He could not attack, but his defense was well-judged; they had achieved a stalemate for the moment.

[shroudedintent]

'Vadum took particular note of the way the shield worked with the knight, it was not fully automatic in its deflection of blows it seemed. For the moment he kept up rapid successive strikes, though alternating the location of his strikes, high or low, left or right so that it would be far more difficult for the Knight to predict his blows, continually circling the night as he continued to strike.

After a moment of continued strikes 'Vadum attempted to deliver a powerful kick with all his strength to the knight's torso, even if the shield intervened he hoped that the blow would press it at the least back in against the knight where he could take advantage.

[meat_mooks]

Rather than absorb the strike, the knight smoothly sidestepped it, bringing his sword around in a powerful two-handed slice, aiming to catch 'Vadum in the side while the kick left him off-balance.

[shroudedintent]

A wise move given the strength of the blow, 'Vadum however did not attempt to deflect the blow, but rather giving a grunt as it slammed into his shields. Causing them burst with arches of static, moving his form around as he regained balance, utilizing the opening given from the knight's own strike to strike forth to the side from which the knight had struck.

[meat_mooks]

And in this, Sir Keladrisk had misjudged; the energy shields threw him off, causing him to stumble slightly. 'Vadum scored a clean hit, swords passing through both spell and metal to strike open the knight's side.

[shroudedintent]

'Vadum did not hesitate to push the advantage as his strike hit home, striking rapidly again and again, following up each blow with a step in, seeking to keep the Knight off balance, seeking the blow that would end the match.

[meat_mooks]

Sir Keladarisk, sensing his own disadvantage, quickly sought to turn the tide; he lowered his shoulder, then rammed it forward at 'Vadum to force him back and hopefully into a wall. He hadn't forgotten about the shields this time, but trusted the enchantment he had cast to protect him.

[shroudedintent]

Though 'Vadum was large in comparison he was also quick. The moment he noticed his opponent lower his shoulder the Sangheili warrior side stepped to divert the force of the ram, hoping to use the knight's momentum against him as he brought a blade down at his opponent's legs.

[meat_mooks]

'Vadum's blade struck deep. The knight went down to a knee, leg crippled, though not before aiming one final slash at his foe in an attempt to even the score.