Tue Jan 22, 2013 10:57 am by Dante the Deceiver
[narration:1pikuwax]He felt it - a disruption in the force through his body. Nay, not a disruption...a reverberation, a REACTION to something other. Most odd...most odd indeed...the sensation was strange, palpable. Force sense? No. It was...emotion, strong emotion. Dark emotion.[/narration:1pikuwax]
[action:1pikuwax]Cracking his eyes, Dante spied the man across the platform, and lazily closed his eyes once more. Oh joy...yet another Sith. Not that he didn't have respect for the Sith, but he felt they were simply all the same; black everywhere, mask and demon references, crazy languages...[/action:1pikuwax]
[quote="Diabolus":1pikuwax][color=#800000:1pikuwax]Ana harrani sa alaktasa la tarat. Erset la tari. Ati me peta babka. Peta babkama luruba anaku. Ina inu erset la tari.[/color:1pikuwax] [color=#999999:1pikuwax]{Road Whose Course Does Not Turn Back. Gatekeeper, Open Your Gate for Me. Open the Gate for Me So That I Can Enter Here. Through the land of no return.}[/color:1pikuwax]
[/quote:1pikuwax]
[action:1pikuwax]Mmm...gotta love those crazy languages. You fight one sith, you fight them all, with few exceptions. Maybe a sith sword here, a lanvarok there, sith alchemy to mix things up...but essentially...all the same. Force powers for example - very few sith learned force healing for some reason, even though it was an incredible boon to them...perhaps they thought it was weak.
He was counting on that assumption of weakness.
With his eyes closed, Dante's ears strained to hear movement...[/action:1pikuwax]
*[i:1pikuwax]Clunk[/i:1pikuwax]*
[action:1pikuwax]And he heard it. And at the precise moment he heard that footstep, he let his left wrist straighten out; from which an utterly blinding flash emanated from the jewel set into his gauntlets wrist. It was a simple affair honestly - the flash emanated from the flashstick assembly built into his gauntlet. Using a capacitor, it took the span of five seconds to charge (which in dueling, is an eternity), hence the whining drone from the gauntlet. During the space that his opponent had uttered his nonsense, five seconds had easily passed...allowing the energy in the capacitor to build up. Dante wasn't sure, but could guess that anyone who was actively walking towards an opponent - especially before a fight had yet to start - would be eyeing his opponent like a hawk...[/action:1pikuwax]
[quote="Diabolus":1pikuwax][narration:1pikuwax]I take a step toward Dante slowly, just to see if he does the same. My eyes never leave his own, piercing blades, always watching to see what he does next.[/narration:1pikuwax][/quote:1pikuwax]
[action:1pikuwax]Because of this, his opponents eyes would be open, and facing Dante - while Dante still had his own eyes closed; in a facade of relaxation. With no warning beyond that of a casual straightening of the wrist, his opponent would have to close his eyes in the space it took light to travel between Dante and his opponent...an unlikely occurrence. There was a snag though; if successful, the flash would overload the optical nerves in his opponents eyes for two hours...and depending on his opponents species, could also potentially stun him for several seconds. Without a force heal - and a concentrated heal at that, as the affected area is rather specific - his opponent would have to wait until the nonlethal, though bothersome, blindness faded away. You had to love those Drall - they really knew how to blind an eyeball.[/action:1pikuwax]
[narration:1pikuwax]Within him, the force throbbed, strengthening the body, enhancing it. Matukai were renowned for their agility, blinding whirlwind speed, peerless balance and dexterity, and for their adaptability...it was this adaptability that Dante combined with deception and misdirection, to obtain a very powerful blend of deceitfulness...[/narration:1pikuwax]
[action:1pikuwax]It was that same speed and agility that Dante put to use for his own purposes; as he straightened his wrist, he brought his left arm up as if he was going to throw a throwing knife. His speed was great in this movement - while not the blinding agility of a force speed, it wasn't the slight increase afforded by a force valor, instead being in between a force speed and force valor - a blur of motion that was discernible, yet incredibly fast. It was this speed that gave the Matukai the ability to wield their polearms with such astounding ability, which allowed them to strike with such precision and grace - perceptions sped up, the body sped up, and the bodies natural abilities were augmented.
It was this dexterity, this quickness of perception, that Dante used as his arm travelled upward; quickly, he darted his hand into his sleeve, until he could feel the ring shaped blades of his micromines against his gloved fingers. Quickly, he grasped the two devices between his knuckles - and as his arm reached the apex of its ascent, his hand simultaneously produced two of the devices grasped firmly in his hand. FIRMLY; because as soon as Dante's arm was in the ready position, he snapped his arm DOWN with the very same speed that had brought his arm to begin with. The result was a SNAP of fabric, and the high pitched *buzz* of something being thrown. The bladed micromines had their uses; they could be attached to a wall and set on a timer, they could be thrown with force - the blades being there to allow the mines to embed themselves and stick to a target. The mines themselves weren't especially deadly though, being rather tiny, they only produced a small explosion a meter in diameter; that explosion though, was highly focused, and if caught within that blast radius, could cause quite a bit of damage. Regardless, it was doubtful that they would penetrate the phrik of his opponents shield...nay, the shield would undoubtedly block the blasts.
But they served another purpose, the primary being distractions, perhaps they would hit the shield (which would most likely blast the brittle cortosis to dust) and push his opponent back several steps. Perhaps they would cause his opponent to dodge. Perhaps they would catch him in the head, and blast his head off (one can hope and dream).[/action:1pikuwax]
Summary:
Dante pretends to be enjoying the breeze, charging his left gauntlets capacitor all the while. This capacitor reaches a full five second charge during the time Diabolus speaks his opening phrase. The dark presence of his opponent alerts Dante to open his eyes slightly, but Dante closes them just as quickly. Now listening for noise from his opponent, Dante waits, and upon hearing his opponents footsteps, Dante simultaneously straightens his wrist and raises his arm. The straightening of the wrist activates the capacitor, which releases a blinding flash that has the potential to blind a target for several hours. As Dante straightens his wrist, he simultaneously bring his arm into a "throwing knife position", and reaches into his preter jacket to grasp two micromines. It should be noted that the throwing motion is a clean SNAPPING motion - that is UP / DOWN, not a UP pause DOWN. Because of this, the micromines can be expected to fly in a half second to a second after the flash; and with good speed as afforded to Dante by his enhanced strength and speed. The micromines are impact activated - and are roughly the size of a cup coaster.