Round 2- Jacogos Vs. dakkagor (J-Kris)

[Kris]

Watch as the days go by....

Sun rises and disappears.

Moon appears bright and full, hanging pregnant above.

Sun rises yet again.

Moon is but half its size once the sun turns to leave.

Sun above high and mighty.

Moon is small, barely noticed with a small curve above the land.

Sun rises again.

No moon in the sky.

The angel descended, looking around at the sandy arena, where the terrible winds carry forth dust and mist.

Each moment the surrounding changes.

A day.

And then night.

And then day again!

Nothing is clear, and no walls preventing movements, but the sands, the winds, and the sudden changes of the light period surly will prove to be a terrible obstacles to the two adversaries.

"Let us start then", they heard her voice ringing with echoes that turned into soft whispers before they began to fight.

*********************************

Welcome to the arena of Sand.


* I trust that you both will take notice of the fact that your ground is not stable and somewhat slippery too. You are free to use it for your advantage.

* The strong currents of winds will come and attack at your third post (I'll step in and write about it).

* The night and day changes after each of you had your second and fourth post posted (Which means it will effect your third and your fifth post) again, I'll step in and write about it.

* We start in day time.


The battle will end after both of you have posted 5 times. You will have 72 hours from the time of your opponents post to get your post in.

At the toss of a coin, dakkagor goes first.

[dakkagor]

Dreams and Nightmares (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEC_5vM79wU)

"What are you're dreams like?"
Marc looked up from the desk in his room. The Mooncalf was making shift to Terra, so her crew could face Inquisitorial censure. Killing an Inquisitor was a big deal, even if he was possessed by a daemon. The small battered rogue trader frigate was flanked by two battle-cruisers from Battle Fleet Solar, even though they went willingly.
Kally was standing in the doorway to his room, looking away from him as she often did. Kally would probably face the worst of it, Marc thought. She had been the only person who could get close to Sidonis in the end, and the person who administered the killing blow. They both knew that this might be the last they would see of each other.
"I don't really give them much thought." Marc said at last, putting his pen down where he had been trying, and failing, to write up a report on what had happened over the last few days. "I've never put much stock in them."
Kally chewed on her thumb. "I never used to dream."
"Never?"
"Never. But I am now."
Marc suddenly felt awkward. Kally seemed to come apart when not under pressure, when not focused on a job. He was her friend, but he wasn't exactly qualified to be a counsellor.
"Tell me about them." He managed at last.
Kally sat down, and started to talk about the strange battle with Hae Jin Mok.


"Let us start then"

Kally looked around bewildered. Dreaming again. This looks like Phanix Delta. She pulled up her rebreather and pulled down her photovisor goggles, protecting her from the flying sand that had been tugging at her hair and stinging her face. But I bet all deserts look the same.
She quickly checked her equipment. Like last time she was hauling a full war load. If this is anything like the last time, there will be someone to fight here. She unslung her bolter and switched the magazine to psycannon rounds. She took a step forwards and immediately sank ankle deep in the soft yielding sand. Fighting, especially at close quarters, in a desert could be a real pain.
"Throne Damnit."
She breathed out, centring herself, letting her blank nature roll out like a tide, ignoring the tingle of fear, of animal in headlights paralysis that came from being out in the open, vision obscured.

Hunted.

She waded forwards, bolter tucked to her chin, sweeping the area in front of her, finger on the trigger, waiting for a target to emerge. Shoot first, ask questions later. The sun beat down on her through the sandstorm and sweat trickled inside her heavy armour as she struggled forwards.

"Yep, just like Phanix Delta" She mumbled, "Gakking hate sand."

OOC : Kally is covering the 180 degrees infront of her with her overwatch power. If she sees something, she'll hose it down with psycannon rounds from the bolter.

[Jacogos]

Theme of the Shade (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzbvcsNPEEE&list=PL4619CDF2FD0D8394)


And there it was, the feeling of being pulled into another realm. Jacob caught himself gasping lightly at the feeling, so unused to it being forced upon him like that. He should have expected it, signing up for this 'Rumble' as he had. But for it to be so sudden and without warning... Peering about, the shadow demon got a quick view of where he was, immediately disliking every part of it.

"Let us start then," came a voice above him. He looked up only long enough to immediately regret it when he was blinded by the sun, swearing none too kindly. He then decided he didn't care who had orchestrated this arena and turned his eyes forward again.

"Great, I fucking hate sand..." Jacob muttered to himself, pulling his hood up to keep the burning sun and whipping sand out of his eyes. The annoyance of this arena was that, at the moment, he could not even see his opponent, a large sand dune blocking any sort of forward vision he might've had. "If it's not one thing it's another..." With that said, he began to make his way up the dune.

He had barely reached the top when the sound of gunfire barely warned him in time to hit the ground, a few rounds whizzing past him and through the space he had just occupied. Sliding down the sand a little, the shade shook himself, rather surprised that someone had brought such advanced projectiles to a fight like this.

"No one has any class anymore..." he sighed, crouching just below the crest of the dune. Closing his eyes, Jacob ordered his shadows to move out, the darker-than-normal beings slowly creeping over the dunes towards the origin of the gunfire.

Almost as soon as they were visible on the other side of the dune were the shadows being fired upon. However, the bullets had no effect on the shadows and Jacob simply smirked at the waste of ammo. Slowly the shadows creeped closer, seeking to pry information about her from her very being. She wouldn't feel it, of course, but that doesn't make it any less true.

[dakkagor]

Changing Position (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToOa6M9zaPE)

The bolter fired before she even knew there was a target, instinct pulling the trigger before concious thought caught up. The bolts, flaring white-blue, howled from the gun and impacted a ridge of sand quite close to her position. She dropped to a knee. Waited. What had she seen?

Something came over the ridge, something slivering, liquid and dark, and close to the ground. She gritted her teeth and fired another burst straight at it. And watched as the rounds, the most devastating anti-psyker countermeasure the Imperium had that wasn't her or someone like her, did nothing but chew up sand. The ammo counter in her scope hit sixteen and she held her fire, finger dropping off the trigger.

Illusion? Or is this going to be a nightmare?

She jumped up, pulled her gun across her chest, and ran. Not for the probing darkness, but to her right. Something had crested the ridge and changed its mind about that after she had opened fire. She didn't know if it was still there. But if she was lucky it hadn't thought to relocate.

The pooling darkness chased after her. It flowed over the ridge like mercury as she ran as best she could, cresting the edge of the dune and sliding down the other side in cascading sand. The shadow drew away from her when she approached, and chased after her when she moved, always keeping its distance but never getting too close.

Not getting within range of her blank nature.

She came to a halt at the base of the ridge. There was a figure there, not much more than a hooded silhouette crouched behind the ridge. Did it turn to look at her? In the howling sandstorm, she couldn't be sure.

She raised her boltgun and fired anyway, hammering shots along the ridge towards the figure. the white-blue bolts of psycannon ammunition thundered from the gun as her ammunition counter clicked down past sixteen.

[Jacogos]

The darkness draws close... (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQoVrFe1GZ8)


Jacob focused on the vague outline of a being that flitted on the edge of his shadows' consciousnesses, trying to make heads and tails of the information that was being fed to him. So far, all he could tell was that it was a humanoid shape. The shadows, depicting humans, beasts, and other things as they crawled across the ground, slowly began to split from one another, aiming to flank her or otherwise surround her. They just needed to get a little bit closer, extract a little more information...

However, while this was happening, Jacob began to pay attention to the bullets that had been fired. Oddly enough, his shadows would not pass over the bullets where they fell, avoiding them at all costs. Interested, the Shade had one of his shadows move towards it, the being hissing at him even as it drew near.

Bad- nasty- don't like- sends to Other! came the shadow's voice in his mind, causing Jacob to start in surprise. It Banishes? he asked the consciousness.

He didn't get an answer, as his focus was drawn away when he realized his opponent was flanking him. In response, Te Kage began to sparkle with electricity, the demon preparing an offense as the being came into view.

A woman, dressed in rather impressive armor, holding a gun he had never seen before. That was who stood before him on the other side of the dune. Jacob barely had time to think before he was under fire, his sudden start upsetting the balance he had gained on the sand and sending him tumbling a few feet. He recovered only enough to push off the dune and land about a dozen yards away and down. Even as he fell, his cloak did not move, hanging dead in the air as the wind rushed past him. He landed in a light roll, the impact was softened by the sand. Holding his gauntlet up like an arm cannon, Jacob fired a bolt of Lightning at the woman, hoping to interrupt her fire.

[Kris]

The air turning colder.

Night has come.


(I'll step in again, after you two have made your third post)

[dakkagor]

Untouchable. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41ngnsC8w4E&list=RD02_uDCvCt8_Jc&feature=endscreen)

The bolt of light flared hard white on her vision as it arced towards her. She shouted in reflexive fear, her bolter dropping from her hands to dangle on its strap she as raised her arms to ward herself from the incoming blast.

The lightning snaked towards her, and flared. It hit the edge of her blank field and blew out like an overcharged arcwelder, lighting the battlefield with a harsh white glare before suddenly dissipating to nothing more than fading sparks, stealing the sunlight with it as the battlefield was suddenly plunged into night.

Kally let her arms down, blinking. The sand still grated against her armour, into her bodysuit, against her goggled eyes and enough to dry out her masked mouth, but suddenly she was effectively blind in the dark, the after images of the strike playing on her eyes as she scanned the light-less storm. She couldn't hope to shoot effectively in a murk like this.

She worked quickly, snapping her scope from the equipment rail of her bolter, and holding it up to her left eye. She thumbed it through to thermal mode. Nothing. Whatever she was fighting was as cold as the. . .
She scanned the desert floor again. Where the figure had been standing was colder than the rest of the desert sand, which radiated the days heat in waves.

She drew her sabre in her right hand and moved forwards, following the trail of a fall from the dune. She hoped against hope she had hit the thing with her second volley. Suddenly the. . thing loomed in front of her, its cloak as immobile in the storm as if it had been carved from granite. It wasn't much taller than her but its existence set her teeth on edge and raised the hackles on her back, like it was a hole in the world. Something that should not be.

"Daemon!" She hissed through gritted teeth, as she dropped the scope from her eyes, and swung her warded sabre in a wide arc, aiming to hack of the gauntleted arm that had fired lightning at her. Disarm, then destroy. And do it quickly.

[Jacogos]

Give in to the night! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyctTU_0FiM)


Jacob's eyes widened as he saw his magic simply.... fail as it came close to the woman. The woman had done nothing, no magical absorption, no sort of anti-magic spell, nothing... The only explanation was possibly equipment she had... Even then, the bolt stopped being about 15 feet away from her, nowhere near any of her equipment. Divine intervention...? he thought, right hand on his chin thoughtfully.

Even as he thought, however, the day suddenly plunged into night, no warning leaving him with the distinct impression that there was at least something fishy going on here. Though the cold didn't bother him much, Jacob knew that the darkness was going to give him an edge that his opponent hopefully didn't have as well...

Drawing Kokuou Kotonashi from its sheath at his side, the demon held his blade at the ready as he anticipated his opponent drawing near. That was when his shadows began screaming at him.

UNCLEAN. UNCLEAN. DEMON. DEMON. UNHOLY ONE. KILL IT. RUN. FLEE. IT IS NOT SAFE! they roared at him, voices drowning out his own thoughts. It took all of his concentration just to push them into a corner of his mind, quieting them. Jacob's eyes flashed pure black as he gazed in the direction his shadows told him his opponent was. She was approaching, her movement rather obvious even in the half-light provided by the moon.

What the hell are you, woman...? he wondered, knowing that he would be able to sense her if she was simply a demon. The fact that she wasn't worried him when he thought about what his shadows said...

"If that's how it's going to be, then we're not going to play nicely," Jacob murmured to himself, drawing his shadows back to him. They retreated much faster than they went out, soon beginning to cover him and slowly take him out of this plane. Before that could happen, however, the woman was upon him. Only... she wasn't.

She was still a few yards away when Jacob was overcome with a feeling of dread, her form changing to become something... monstrous. Perhaps that was just his imagination, but something was messing with his mind, her very presence instilling something akin to... what was that old word? Fear? Shuddering, the Shade ignored the unnaturalness of the woman before him.

She approached him quickly and, with a hissing of his race like it was a taint (a reaction he was far beyond used too), swung her sword at him, aiming for his left side. Though he was right-handed, Jacob was more than adequate at the blade and blocked her attack deftly. The two metals met in a squeal of clashing steel, Jacob aiming to simply deflect hers to the side, allowing him to bring his blade back at her in a cut towards her midsection.

[Kris]

The current is unbearable, sands are penetrating your cloths.

-For one round you feel the winds striking at you and the vision becoming blurry from sand-

(I'll step again for the last time after you both have made your fourth post)

[dakkagor]

Sainted (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jZbSla3KkI)

The hard parry made the metals of the two blades scream in protest, and jarred Kally's arm. Her opponent was strong, stronger than anything human shaped had a right to be. She grunted as she pulled her blade clear of the lock and tried to back up in the drifting sand. Quick as the lightning he had fired earlier, his blade darted in for Kally's ribs. She dropped her sabre into a low parry and felt the impact catch on the Lathe Blade and drive it backwards until the shadow-steel Katana ground into her armour. It skidded down the plastron with a sound like nails on a chalk board and then buried itself in her flank, drawing a gasp of pain and surprise from her. She realised if she hadn't made the parry, that blow could have sawn her in half.

She staggered backwards as the daemon pulled its blade free, blood washing down her side from the wound. She ignored the flesh wound, her right hand keeping her Lathe Blade pointed at the thing she was facing. The hexagrammic runes etched into its metal, she noticed, seemed to be glowing with a white heat.

Whatever this thing was, it was powerful. But a few good blows could send it back where it came from. She hoped.

Her left hand began to reach for a pistol, but stopped when she heard a howling roar growing across the desert. She turned in time to see a wall of sand and wind engulf her and the daemon. She went over, knocked off her feet by the force of the howling storm.

Oh. . hell.

Visibility had dropped to meters, maybe less. She rolled to her feet, ignoring the screaming wound in her flank, and snap-drew her laspistol in her left hand. She could still make out the unmoving form of the daemon in the storm, its robes still unaffected by the howling wind, like some kind of shadowy hole in the world.

"Die you Gakker!"

She fired the steel-burner laspistol as she charged, laying down a hail of bolts as she closed the few short steps to swinging her sabre again, adrenaline and a twinge of fear driving her forwards through the sand and adding desperate strength to her blows.

[Jacogos]

The roar of the sands... (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tlNlhLGWE4)


Jacob withstood the sudden uprising of sand a little better than the woman, only going to one knee as he planted himself firmly in the sand. Even with his otherworldly cloak, though, he still felt the sandy wind cut through his clothes, scraping along Te Kage with a distinctly quiet squeal of steel. After a moment, the demon managed to get back on his feet, facing his opponent once more.

She's mundane, but her weapons give her an edge... That blade feels... wrong.... he thought, flicking his blade clean of her blood. It didn't get all of it, but the rest he could worry about later. The anticipated the woman approaching again, though the lack of visibility made it hard to distinguish anything at the moment. Darkness plus sandstorm equals no fun for Jacob.

Be still. We embrace you... his shadows whisper, the demon smiling as he accepted their embrace. However, moments before he was completely Shadowwalking, a bullet entered his lower right midsection, causing him to recoil in shock. What the...? That was the only hit before he quite literally vanished.

No sense, smell, sight, sound, magical or non-magical, could detect him now. Which was lucky for him, because that bullet-wound was bleeding rather badly. Hissing in pain, Jacob channeled his Flame Burst magic momentarily, Te Kage glowing red and heating in response. Pressing the other-metal gauntlet to his wound, it quickly cauterized it, Jacob closing his eyes as he accepted the pain without objection.

"There... Now, for her..." he said silently, his ethereal form moving through the sandstorm unhindered. It was quite something, walking through the world without actually... well feeling the world. There was no 'air', though he could still breath... It was something he couldn't explain to other beings. Steeling himself and ignoring his wound, Jacob began to center in on where he had last seen the woman.

And there she was, casting about hopelessly. No doubt he was as confused about his disappearance as he was about her attack before he disappeared. As he investigated her equipment, he squinted at the pistol she still held at the readty.

Not the rifle? Explains why it didn't hurt more... he thought, circling her like a vulture in the ethereal world. He kept close to her as he waited for the appropriate moment to strike, hoping one would present itself before too long. I wonder if those damn gods are timing us?

[Kris]

The night's turning to a day.

The sun's rays striking at your vision. The wind has calmed, but the heat is boiling at your skin.

Steams are raising from the ground as you hear the cries of vultures, spinning above your head, waiting for the first corpse to fall and for them to feast upon your flesh.

[dakkagor]

Hit without Warning (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=GO1xK8CX-Sw&list=RD02arYJ5Sx71p8)

Her blade whistled through air thick with sand. She pulled her charge up short, breathing heavily behind the rebreather.

Where the hell did he go?

She looked around herself as the wind suddenly dropped and some cruel divinity turned on the heavens sun lamp. She began to sweat even more freely inside her armour, and the thin open wound in her side began to sting with a mixture of sand, sweat and congealed blood. Cursing she pulled her rebreather down from her face. Had it fled to leave her to die of dehydration in the desert? She re-holstered her laspistol, not bothering to change the half empty battery.

Or had she actually killed it?

She crouched down on the spot where she had seen the daemon last. There was blood, mixed in with the sand. But not nearly enough to be fatal. This wasn't over, not by a long shot.

She turned full circle, scanning the desert, spotting the vultures in the air. Not a good omen.
There was nothing else on the sand but her. Nothing.

She gripped her sabre tighter. No way it was that easy. No chance it was over. The daemon was hiding. She didn't know how, and she didn't know where, but she was certain it was hiding from her.

"NOT SO NICE, IS IT?" she shouted to the desert, convincing the circling vultures to circle a little further away. "RUNNING INTO SOMETHING JUST AS NASTY AS YOU?"

She held her blade out in front of her, watching the runes on its surface and the desert beyond.

"ALL I'VE SEEN FROM YOU IS SHADOWS AND COWARDICE!" She laughed, bitterly. "Some daemon."

She turned at a sound, imagining the rustling of a cloak or the shift of sand under clawed foot. Nothing. Not even the vultures felt like getting close.

"I've faced worse than you." She spat. "Real horrors. Things that crawled from the worst pits of the Eye of Terror, monsters, heretics and madmen. You think you're in the same league as them? You think you're in the same league as me?" She laughed. "Come out and prove it. If you dare. But I don't think you've got the guts. Its not easy fighting a mere mortal when they bring you down to their level."

She listened, past her words as they bounced from the empty dunes. Listening for the slightest clue. A hint of movement, the smell of spilt daemon blood. She strained her senses like she was back in the underhive, waiting to turn an ambush back on the ambushers. Waiting for the clue that would say there was more there than just her and the circling vultures. She closed her eyes, ignoring the blazing desert and listening for the sound that wasn't her voice, wasn't her heart, and wasn't the gentle shifting of the sand.

"Come out if you dare." She muttered. "And finish my nightmare."

[Jacogos]

Final Blow! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVn8QMLjc58)


Jacob listened to the woman as she shouted out her angst at him, calling him names and possibly trying to anger him. The only reason he could hear her in his ethereal world was because of his close proximity to her, and even then she was muffled. The demon could only smirk. Bring me down to your level, eh girl? You're only demeaning yourself if you think I'm any better than you... he thought grimly, holding his katana firmly as he prepared to exit his Shadowwalk.

The night had turned to day and the sandstorm subsided, returning the battlefield to its original state. Jacob's wound still pained him for the moment, but it wouldn't for long. Taking another life was... invigorating to a demon. It personally left a bad taste in his mouth, but he couldn't really get over his racial nature, no matter how latent. In any case, Jacob readied himself for his next strike.

The Shade positioned himself in front of his opponent, unseen, unknown, but in front of her nonetheless. She had closed her eyes, likely trying to listen out for his movement. Poor thing. She'll never see him coming... Well, she might. However, it wouldn't be long enough to react. Bah, he was thinking too much about this.

Just kill her Jacob... When have you ever paused before? he berated himself, eyebrows furrowing beneath his ebon-colored hood. I must be losing my touch... Kokuou Kotonashi extended before him, the ethereal blade passing through the woman in a mock pantomime of slicing through her neck. Jacob slowly closed his eyes and breathed in deeply, bringing his blade back to ready position.

"Well, I sure am taking my sweet time..." he said, opening his eyes again to reveal them now pitch black, including the whites. "You were an interesting opponent. Pity you must die... Such an abomination cannot be allowed to walk this earth any longer."

With that said, Jacob exited the Shadowwalk, slowly appearing before the woman as silent as a fly's wing-beat. He was in the perfect position, the perfect stance... All it would take... As Jacob finally let out his breath, his katana flashed, striking towards the woman's neck in a fluid and clean motion. Whether or not it worked, Jacob was already speaking by the time the motion finished.

"Go in peace, Demon Hunter..."

[Kris]

Loved how Dak totally went ahead and mixed the background of his char into the interaction with his rival, I liked how Jaco timed all the environment into his view by joining his foe into the surrounding.

You both had weak posts and very powerful posts, and the interaction between you two was fantastic. It felt like a dance indeed.

Since it was hard for me to decide, I asked a another judge to step in with this, and the results were pretty close to mine, so here they are (mine):

Writing Style:
Jaco- 3
Dak- 2.

Effectiveness of Combat:
Jaco- 2
Dak- 3

Control of the Field:
Jaco- 2
Dak- 2

After much considering and reading (and adding the results of the other judge), I'll have dakkagor move forward.

Jaco, it sure been wonderful battle. Just so you know it was really hard to make that final call on, since you both were wonderful.

I sure hope to see you two again in next year's Rumble :)