The flesh traders tense, and Kai knows what is coming. Not willing to allow the leader to hang back, Kai quickly closes the distance, drawing his long diiro hilt as he goes. Swooping in with preternatural speed, he ignites his saber and strikes. Kyee-Taaiiii!!! A blur of blue feathers, illuminated by the eerie orange glow of the saber, he pierces his enemy's cloak to effect.

Kai withdraws following his whirlwind attack, as does the wounded officer, ordering several troops to cover his retreat. Forced into the defensive, Kai is overwhelmed, and an insufficient parry permits a blow to land on his flank. Sskkaaa! Shifting, then lunging, he runs his lightsaber through the opponent who had struck him, dropping him.

The two remaining fighters hesitate briefly, as their comrade crumples to his knees, and Kai stands ready for the next phase of his attack.

It all seems to happen suddenly, in a flourish of blades and blood.

Right as Bralane finishers her opening warning and as Kamoa, Takane, Chadrik, and Zik prepare for combat, Phoon is off like a rocket, tearing into the throat of one attacker, even as they draw their weapons. Most of them swords that glint in the lamplight, except for one that wields a wicked looking lash.

As Kai attacks the leader with a surge of agility, his lieutenant moves forward and strikes at Bralane with his whip, striking her across the arm. Three more draw their blades and strike at Kai.

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Kai remains at engaged range with his two remaining attackers, and within short range of the whip-wielder. The leader is at medium range from Kai. Phoon is within short range of his group. The rest of the PCs are a medium distance from Kai.

Effortlessly disengaging from the masked warriors, Kai speeds toward their leader. This time when he swoops in, his adversary is prepared for the onslaught, and Kai is unable to penetrate the swordsman's defenses. With a flourish and a twist, he does manage to send the sword flying from his opponent's grasp, however.

"YIELD!!" Kai vocalizes loudly, extending the flickering orange lightsaber toward the now disarmed combatant. He hopes the other talon, fumbling for a stimpack at his belt, does not undermine his demand too much.

As Kai attacks the leader, Shisa finally acts. "Phoon!" she shouts, sounding worried and indignant over her friend, "Come back here!"

With a yell, Chadrik races after Kai. However, he sees the avian swoop after the leader of this bunch. He doesn't stop though and charges right into the group that was engaged with Kai. With a quick swing, Chadrik dismembers one of the two and the intruder falls down dead. The other steps back and ducks as Chadrik tries another swing. Chadrik grits his teeth. He hasn't had to use his lightsaber in quit a while and he both loved and hated the feeling that it evoked in him.

Zik notices Takane tense up, preparing to enter the fray. He rests his hand on her shoulder and focuses on his connection to his own ancestors. At first, all Zik sees in his mind's eye is the face of Jubba Bird—the sacred trickster!—offering its strength to the battle at hand. But Zik forces the bird back; he won't need the totem's help this day. Instead he focuses on the peace that comes from being with family. "Fathers and mothers, wake up this woman's ancestors! Kick them out of bed! Their daughter needs them." To Takane he says, "Help our friends if that is what they are telling you to do."

Takane flinched a bit as the preacher conjured her ancestors, but his hand on her shoulder calmed her, more than she would have thought. Grandfather's image filled her mind, and she could almost feel him standing beside her, watching.

But, when the Priestess recalled her companion, someone else was watching, too. The group Phoon had savaged was now unoccupied, and their eyes turned towards their leader and the precarious position that Kai held him in. They were clearly nervous of the two glowing beams that had ignited in the temple courtyard, but Takane would not allow them the chance to gang up on her companion.

"Thank you," she whispered to Zik quickly, before she set off at a sprint. She ducked, sliding across the rocky ground to avoid the swirling lash of the bandit lieutenant as he and the bothan joined their own battle, coming expertly back to her feet to continue her dash. As she reached the group, she catapulted off a fallen column, landing between the two.

"Grandfather, guide my hand." Eyes all but closed as she landed, the flick of her wrist loosed her blade from its home, and she twirled, the ancient sword cutting a spiraling arc around her. She felt as it connected.

Bralane locked eyes with one of the stronger assailants. Clearly spooked by her words, he decided the best course of action wasn't to disengage from the fight, but to instead eliminate the threat.

"Come and get me you low life scum" Bralane said to herself

The lieutenant broke out a whip, strode forward and lashed Bralane across the torso; the blow rocking Bralane back in her stance a bit, while the rest of the impact was absorbed by armor and natural toughness.

"Apparently you are in a gambling mood taking me on 1:1. You'll need to hit me a lot harder than that if you want to walk away from this one."

Her focus shifted inward, calling on the latent energy swirling around her. Tapping this flow, Bralane felt the comforting embrace of The Force wash over her, enhancing her already considerable strength and innate hardiness. Gripping her weapon, she strode forward to meet her opponent.

Phoon wavers at hearing Shisa's command, but obediently retreats to her side.

The leader, however, seems undaunted by Kai's threat or the lightsaber pointed at him. With an unexpected suddenness, he draws a short blade, and throws it at Kai with terrifying accuracy.

Aaukskk!! Kai deftly deflects the flung blade aimed at his torso, but it still slices deep into his feathered shoulder, before skittering off into the night. Don't drop that stimpack... ok.. The wounded Sathari maintains his guard, and tries hard to keep up a brave beak; one unused to his kind might not detect the extent of his injuries, but he is sorely hurting. His eyes are fire, as he resolves to end this aggressor... before he ends him.

Kamoa watches the fight unfolding, but doesn't leave the girls side. He wasn't going to let anything happen to this one, not again. But he didn't like leaving his companions in the lurch without him. Glancing around for something, he spots a decently sized rock. Taking aim at the nearest combatant, the one with the whip, and chucks it at his head. The rock sails across the distance, striking him more solidly than Kamoa actually thought would happen. He gets a grim bit of satisfaction at the injury, hopefully that would distract him from the others for now. When Whip glances his way, he gives him a rude gesture, and a "Come get some more" motion with his hand.

Takane finished her twirling slice, brining her blade down in front of her in an expert ready stance. She glanced to both sides: the men must be wearing armor of some kind under their thermal cloaks, because her slash had not been quite as lethal as she had expected; both men still stood, although one was bleeding openly from a large gash up the side of his face, and his cloak flapped in the night breeze with two new edges it hadn't had before.

As Kai cried out from the ringleader's sudden knife, the two men jumped towards the small woman, their blades flashing in the wane light.

It was almost too easy. Takane judged their distance, their stance, the terrain, their speed, every factor in a matter of instants, her battle meditation making her feel as if she was moving like the wind, her opponents charging in sluggish slow motion. One of them was slightly faster to reach her, so her blade intersected his, tipping it ever so slightly to the side. Takane stepped as well, keeping her motion small and simple, so that when the blade and its wielder slipped past her by centimeters, it took only a nudge to send the man sprawling into his friend.

Both were skilled enough with their weapons that neither of them skewered each other, but the move had another purpose: now they were embarrassed, which made them angry, and caused their skill to deteriorate even further. They both charged in again, and Takane danced through their flurry of amateur swings like a petal on a breeze, her own blade blocking and deflecting, maneuvering them into the position she wanted them.

So sloppy were they, that the swordswoman was able to find even more time to analyze their motions and attack patterns, and set herself up for a devastating finishing blow...

Chadrik and his lone adversary circled each other for just a minute before they began to swing at each other again. The flowing of the Force felt good in Chadrik and the blows of the being never touched the Rodian's skin. What little armor Chadrik had on served its purpose, and Chadrik weaved in and out of the slashes. One blow did land on the hilt of his lightsaber right between two of his fingers. He was caught off guard since the weapon never touched the skin and quickly returned from whence it came. It was not the first time he had thanked the Force. Probably not the last.

Takane's opponents were better than she'd given them credit for: at the last moment, despite her careful maneuvering, they anticipated her intended attack and moved to counter, swinging simultaneously at the space she'd intended to occupy and forcing her to abandon her path.

But that was as far as their skill went. She dropped into a roll under their blades, and they weren't adaptable enough to adjust for her sudden shift. She came up to her feet, starting an overhead slash behind her as she did. As her blade rose, she felt the cutting resistance as it ripped the cloak and armor from one of the assailant's body, and the man crumpled to the ground. She finished her motion, coming to a ready stance against her remaining opponent.

A few exchanges later, and he was lying on the ground as well. But Takane couldn't spare a moment for the ritual words she would normally say, Kai was is trouble. She looked over, watching as the avian stumbled back from the gang leader, inserting the needle of the stimpack applicator into one of his injuries and pulling the trigger, injecting himself with the reparative cocktail. She flipped the grip she had on her sword, changing to a reverse grip and dashing, low and streamlined, towards the engagement.

Her breath was heaving; despite the fluidity with which she moved, the constant running and fighting was starting to tire her out. But she wouldn't let her friends down. As she approached she changed grips again, and gave a flying leap with a kick towards the man who had so callously tried to purchase the life of a child. "AAAAIIIEEE!" She gave a kiai as she flew. The man saw her approach and reflexively juked back, and her flying kick sailed past. But the attack had never been intended to hit; it--and the yell--were merely a ploy, and as she landed, Takane took up her stance, blade raised, on the opposite side of the boss, hoping her distraction had been enough to give Kai an opening.

It seems Shisa couldn't keep Phoon under control, as he rushed back towards the nearest enemy--the whip-wielder--and bit into the warrior, teeth gouging at the man's arm. The fought down a scream.

With all the fighting going on around him, Chadrik remains calm. He basically doesn't even think. A shift here, a parry there and the feint to set up the sweep and the sweep! The minion falls to the ground under Chadrik's lighsaber. Chadrik hesitates for just a minute before running to help Kai and Takane take down the leader. He casts a quick glance in Bralane's direction and gives her a mental thumbs up.

Bralane raises her staff offensively, and the human thug lashes his whip out at the perfect moment. Thrown off balance by the sudden assault, Bralane is forced to dip her shoulder to avoid getting hit. Her grip on her staff is suddenly weakened, her wrists locked in a awkward position. With a sudden flick and reverse, her attacker is able to kick the weapon out of her hands. Cursing her fate, Bralane just grits her teeth and raises fist, and ***** a menacing grin.

"Oh? So you want to do this the sporting way now do you? Human to Bothan, fist and foot? Well, I am happy to engage..."

Launching herself off Force infused legs, Bralane brought a series of hammer blows into her opponent. A right fist buried into his face, followed by an elbow to the forehead and a knee to the gut, strike after strike smashed into the human, knocking him briefly senseless. Desperate to escape the onslaught, he gives ground, catching a foot on a root, and stumbling. Bralane easily takes advantage of his compromised position and sweeps in his legs clean out from under, the thug landing heavily on his back.

" YIELD YOU FOOL!!!" screams Bralane to her opponent " You are beaten. If you rise, I assure you the next time you fall you will not get up."

Taking advantage of the momentary distraction caused by Takane's flying kick, Kai jabs the stimpack into his thigh. I should train her in Ataru.. but now is not the time to let her distract me, too.

Already feeling a surge in vitality from the potent cocktail, Kai throws himself back into the fray with a frenzy. The strain of the relentless offensive is taking its toll, and he knows he can't keep it up for long, so he launches himself toward the Leader with a devastating fleche attack.

Keee-stre kai-kai-Kai!!

The flying thrust lands! Kai disengages his saber, twirls, and strikes again before his talons even touch the ground.

The leader falls. Should have yielded.

Victorious, Kai acknowledges the fatigue he had kept at bay, and lets it wash over him as he surveys the battlefield.

A whip?!

The glow of the fusion lamp only reaches so far, but Zik sees several of the bandits go down—including the leader, falling to Kai's and Takane's blades. With the whip-wielder knocked to his back, the storyteller senses it, the end of the battle. A peaceful home is worth more than a kingdom. It is too bad it had to come to this.

The thin Human regards Kamoa. " Keep her safe ," he says. Then, to the girl: " This will be over soon. Stay here with Mr. Kamoa ." Zik then squeezes the small collar amp clipped to the inner folds of his woolen scarf, striding calmly but deliberately toward the Bothan warrior and her quarry. His voice blares out, amplified: " If the two-eyed man loses to a foe, the one-eyed man is a fool to continue the fight. Your leader is defeated. You have lost ." The Human silently calls upon his forebears to lend his words strength, and the zeal of a dozen Chalactan warriors seethes through him.

Sometimes the ancestors work with the right hand, sometimes they work with the left. Tonight, Zik realizes, is a night for the left hand. He wills it out into the mind of the whip-wielder.

" Yield! "

Even fallen, wounded, dazed and alone, the last attacker seems defiantly determined to fight back, rising stiffly to his feet, a dagger is suddenly in his hands. He tosses it at Zik, but misses, though it flies and strikes the fusion lamp. The brief confusion at the loss of the light source gives him enough time to back away from Bralane, Zik, and Phoon.

Kamoa continues to stay between the melee and Shiso. None seem inclined to come after their target, and instead deal with the combatants. He picks up another rock and hurls it at the one with the whip, glancing it off his shoulder.

The human assailant rolled away clumsily from his attacker and lumbered to his feet. Dazed by his blows, he acts on instinct rather than logic, lashing out with a throwing knife at what he thought was Bralane. It turned out to be someone entirely different, and it also turned out to be a simple fusion lantern instead.

With the light suddenly dimmed and shadows everywhere, Bralane quieted, eyeing her opponent with almost feral intensity.

"Do you feel that? The fear, starting to creep up your feet? Flowing through your hips and into your chest? That tightening feeling?

Gasping for breath, sweat beading off his brow, the lieutenant could barely lift his whip, let alone move his feet. Out of nowhere crept fear in his heart, seeping in to his limbs and rendering his muscles limp. He wanted to run, he wanted to fight, but the fear.... The Fear.....

"You are not only beaten you are alone. Your companions have all fallen to the weapons of my own companions. You are all that is left. That sensation you feel? The inability to move? You are beaten. You are defeated. If you give up now, the worst that happens is you continue to draw breath. Do not be the fool, as your companions were. There is no shame in admitting defeat, nor giving into fear. Sometimes, you need the fear to stay alive."

Bralane stalks in closer, fists raised, ready to strike if needed, hoping to end this fight with no more loss of life.

"Surrender. I will give no last warning."

The man drops to his knees, panting heavily, clutching at his wounds. Phoon is all growls and snarls, but Shisa quickly catches up and holds him down, at least a bit.

The man slowly raises his head, looks around before spotting Shisa, and then lowly mutters something in his language.

Zik snatches up the man's whip from the dirt, keeping it well out of reach of the exhausted combatant. The storyteller switches off his collar-amp and says, "The Loth-rat doesn't dance even when the Loth-cat is sleeping. We have to be careful. We should restrain him."

[ETA: Turned off the collar amp!]

Kamoa relaxes his stance once he sees the conflict end. He moves forward as Shisa advances to calm her animal companion. He glances around the group, surveying the injuries. He opens up a pouch in his backpack, and the tinkling sound of several metal canisters is heard. Several stimpacks are visible, and he draws one out. "Who needs fixing first?" He says to the group at large.