Kivana Vs. Larz

On the desert planet of Vort, a battle raged between Irkens and Vortians. In a heavily defended bunker, Elite Lieutenant-Captain LARZ stood observing the battle, being careful of where he stood however, lest a sniper take him out. A small Irken message drone fluttered up to his antenna, and whispered, “My lord, Elite Squadron 34 has requested assistance on front A.” Larz knew what was coming next; he would have to go out there with his squad and hold a line of fire until Squad 34 was able to retreat. He nodded slowly, his antenna rings clacking together. “Tell them help is on the way.” He rasped.

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Vox hit the ground with a pained 'oomph' as the strange hybrid rebel placed a strong clawed foot to his throat, pressing down slightly to pin him in place. He looked up at her and saw the anger burning in her red eyes. She aimed her weapon at his face, pressing down harder on his throat. Vox gasped for breath and spotted his R-90 on the ground to his right, just within reach. Holding a hand to the crushing foot, he reached out with his right arm to grab his gun. Just as his fingers grazed the edge of the weapon, the female rebel fired. The hot, green laser-blast raced across his line of vision and hit the ground next to his head, ultimately cutting straight through his right antenna. Vox let out a strangled scream at the pain of the severed sensory organ and thrashed in agony.

"Next time it's your head." Kivana growled at the Irken Elite soldier, aiming the weapon at his head once more.

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Larz was hopelessly lost. Apparently, that GPS system in his PAK wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. He had gotten separated from the rest of his squad when the Vortian Rail Guns had begun to fire. The sun beat down onto his unprotected head, and it was extremely hot inside of his armor; he was sweating like a Vortian Dog-monster… He wiped his brow with his bulky looking prosthetic arm, his boots dragging into the dirt of the seemingly endless arid plain.  He heard a very faint noise, almost like a scream. His antenna perked straight up like two ram-rods; it was definitely a scream, but from who and where?

His half-squinted eyes scanned about the dry landscape, until something caught their attention. A young vortian girl, standing over a clearly injured Irken, weapon in hand. His PAK immediately began a threat assessment…. ~Species: unknown; Strength and Stamina: unknown; Conclusion: approach with extreme caution~ Larz scoffed silently, his antennae twitching in agitation. 'Approach with caution eh? This girl will be shrieking for mercy when I’m done with her.' He thought with a wicked smile, although you couldn’t even see it because of his high armored collar. One clawed hand reached for a small looking Model 130 Stun Stik on his belt; his left hand still hidden by his cloak, which had done absolutely nothing to protect him from Vort's three suns.

“Little girls shouldn’t play with weapons; they’re not toys.” Larz rasped as he approached, a mocking tone is his voice. His golden eyes narrowed as he quickly flipped a button on the side of the small rod, causing it to extend to its full length with a silent Shhick! The ends crackled with ghostly purple electricity. “Put the weapon down and it just might be painless.”

Kivana's psuedo-horn antennae flicked in irritation as she heard the Irken approach from behind. Her clawed toes curled around the throat of the small Elite soldier beneath her as he struggled breathlessly. She stood there a moment in silence, before releasing the suffocating Irken and giving him a swift kick in the rump when he attempted to flee. Despite the painful kick, Vox resumed his escape, racing off toward the horizon. Kivana turned to face the Elite Captain. "As much as I would agree with your sentiment, the same could be said for Irkens picking fights with an obviously superior opponent." she spoke and raised her weapon, but not at him. Instead, she fired blindly in the direction the Elite soldier had fled and 400 m away there was a distant scream and the falling silhouette of the Irken soldier.

“Coward! Shooting at a defenseless opponent. Scum! I will enjoy burning your planet 'til it is but ash!” Larz said shakily, rage and disgust in his normally calm voice. Something snapped within him, and his temper skyrocketed the very second the soldier’s body hit the floor. With a quick flick of his slender fingers, his cloak fell to the ground, revealing his rather large and dangerous looking prosthetic arm; looking particularly nefarious, especially with the spikes studded into it. “I certainly hope your ready to die like the coward you are.” Larz hissed, as he suddenly surged forward, the dangerous Shock Stik in both hands, he leapt up, twirling the weapon expertly. He closed the gape between them rapidly, and within seconds he was upon her.

"Coward?" Ki scoffed, "The only coward here is your disgusting Empir--" She was cut off by Larz's sudden attack and dropped to the ground, rolling out of the way as he landed where she had just been standing. "Bastard!" she hissed, climbing to her feet. She crouched down again, muscles tensing like coiled springs, and leapt at him with a deep-throated roar. She landed on him with thump! and pressed her gun to his head, eyes narrowed in seething rage.

Larz chuckled, shaking his head slowly, his eyes very calm; and why should he worry, he had an ace in the hole.. “Now now, would that be very wise of you? Underestimating your opponent is key to defeat. Remember that, child.” He said in an almost relaxed tone, as a low whirring sound filled the air. Suddenly with a loud clack, four mounted R-beam auto-pistols popped out of his PAK, already charged and ready. “Put the gun down, or these suckers will turn you to Vortian goop, even if you shoot me.” He laughed wickedly, holding one of the electrically charged ends of his Stun Stik dangerously close to her torso. “And also.. Its not my Empire. I hate it as much as you do.”

Kivana growled softly at the display, cursing herself for her incompetence; her teachers had warned her about underestimating an opponent. She sat back and tossed her weapon aside yet kept him pinned under her as she spoke, "If you hate it so much, why do continue to fight for them? Furthermore, why should I believe you? You Irkens are notorious liars." She grabbed the front of his armour and pulled his face close her hers, "A bit of advice, though; I don't need a weapon to kill you, so it would be in your best interest not to give me a reason to."

“And you Vortians are extremely ignorant.” Larz retorted with a snort, a little crestfallen by the fact that he was being pinned to the ground by a female; but he’d survive. The weapons were still trained on her, preventing her from doing anything particularly stupid, but he knew weapons would probably not prevent her from snapping his neck. “I don’t fight for the Empire, I fight for myself.” He stated matter of factly. “And if you’re going to threaten somebody, say it to their face. So, please remove my collar, the release button is right there. It is quite hot inside this armor and I want to get comfortable.” He said, his voice pumped with venom and riddled with sarcasm. His squinting gold eyes gleamed mockingly at his captive. ‘We’re in a damn stalemate; if she kills me, my PAK kills her, and there is not too much of a chance of me killing her….should I surrender?’ He quickly banished this insecurity from his mind, gripping his Stun Stik tighter.

"First of all, I am NOT a Vortian, nor am I one of you.. Irkens. My father calls me a Vortken; a blending of the two species, a hybrid. But, understand that it does not make me any less of a threat to your Empire, or any less of a sentient being deserving of life." she threatened, and silently heeded his request to remove the face-mask of his armour. "Secondly, you should be wary when speaking so unfavourably of my heritage. I may not belong to either species entirely, but I respect my father's culture. I only wish I could speak so highly of my Irken heritage."

Larz was amazed to say the least, it showed on his now revealed face. His visage, although permanently scarred, showed how cruel the Irken Empire could be to its soldiers. “Vortken, eh? That’s….” He paused, searching for an appropriate term, "Unique.” He grinned disarmingly, his antennae flat against the dirt. “Don’t be afraid of me; this is how the Empire rewards it's most esteemed soldiers.” He was talking about the nasty scars that criss-crossed his pale green face. “This is why I hate the Empire; they took my arm, my face, and my former power. And let me guess, your parents told you to hate all of us, no?” He closed his eyes, and shook his head, clucking chidingly. “Don’t believe everything your parents say; not all of us are all bad now…Well, I am.” He met her hate filled gaze. ‘She hates me; Good. Hatred will make her strong.’

Kivana scoffed, "No-one told me to hate your kind; I learned it on my own. My mother is Irken, one of the few of your kind with any decency. I've seen what your Empire can do; what it has done. It destroyed my family, maybe not in the literal sense, but it's because of your disgusting Empire that my parents could never be together, that I could never truly be happy, that I had to grow up without a mother--" Angry tears filled her eyes and she choked off her rant and tensed her muscles to hide the sobs that threatened to overtake her.

Larz rolled his eyes, tensing himself, but not for her reason; he was getting ready to escape. “Spare me the tears, girl.” He said harshly, his face screwed up into a grimace. “When you’re a seasoned soldier like me you’ve heard it all; sob stories, half-breeds like you, the works. And do I give a shit? No, of course not. I just want out of service so I can escape to the farthest inhabited planet possible.” His eyes burned with anger, not at the chimera, but at himself. “And while we’re talking, I think your actually pretty easy on the eyes…” He said with a sultry smile. He braced himself to shove her off of him with his mechanical arm and to get up as fast as he can; she would over-power him if he wasn’t fast--the minute she responded, he would act.

Kivana hissed curses to herself as he knocked her off. How could she let him manipulate her like that?! She glared acidly at him as she climbed to her feet, narrowing her eyes at the compliment. "You'd be wise to keep that tongue to yourself!" she hissed, referring to his poorly-disguised compliment and flirtatious smile. She brushed the dust from her uniform and wiped away the drying blood from her previous battle.

Ki narrowed her eyes and stared hard at the Irken; concentrating. Opening her mind, she looked through him--into him--trying to determine his next move. What she saw almost surprised her; his hatred for the Irken Empire was true and burned almost as strongly as her own, but what surprised her the most was his apparent sympathy and... affection for her. She closed her eyes, trying to focus her concentration to see more; maybe she could use this to her advantage.

~Larz took up a fighter’s stance, his mounted guns following, all still trained on her; the staff he held crackling with a ghostly purple energy. “Come on, half-breed, come and kill me like you said.” He spoke, repeating it over and over again, turning it into a chant. His face twisted into a sneer and he began to circle her, all his pistols aimed at her head. They began to hum, all in unison; it was a beautiful sound really, almost ethereal. Then their barrels began to glow with some mysterious green energy. The humming grew louder, and louder, until-- Ja-Ja-Ja-Ja-Ja! --they all opened fire. Green energy beams spewed from their maws, all speeding for Kivana. At 300 RPM, those where some fast weapons. “Its over, girl!” He yelled over the cacophony of the automatic weapons.~

Kivana's eyes snapped open as the vision faded. She looked at him as he stood there; watched as the events began playing out just like it had in her vision. She stared a moment, surprised at her own ability; she'd never before been able to see things before they happened. She was drawn back to reality as his weapons began powering up, and in a split-second reaction, she leapt into the air; perfectly avoiding the spray of laser-fire. She spun through the air and landed with an oof! several feet behind him.

Larz was surprised, but recovered quickly, turning around, and venting the last bit off their clips in her direction…Their barrels smoked; empty. They instantly retracted into his PAK; it would take about five minutes to reload, he would need to stall her a little bit longer. He approached her cautiously, his Stun Stik still fully charged in his hands. “Stop hopping around, little grasshopper.” He hissed, his antennae rattling agitatedly, the clanking of his antennae rings creating an almost comedic sound.

"And let you kill me? I don't think so." she growled in response, the shock of her vision passing. She crouched down and reached behind her for a hidden weapon; a small tube-shaped device. Pulling it out, she activated the device, two energy blades extending from each end of the weapon. Holding the weapon poised, she waited for him to step closer. When he was close enough, she leapt into action.

Extending a leg, she swept his feet out from under him, knocking him to the ground. Leaping onto his chest, she pinned his weapon against his body with her foot and plunged the ethereal green blade into his body; burying it to the hilt. The energy coursed through his body, shorting his PAK's higher functions and essentially knocking him unconscious. When she deemed him no longer a threat, she retracted the blade and tossed his Stun Stik aside. "You're lucky that was only the stun setting." she hissed at his unconscious form. She pulled out her communicator and requested a pick-up from her Resisty colleagues, leaving the Irken to ponder his defeat.