Darien & Faux Darien vs. John Poppins

Kharessan Docks

(GCL: Season 1 [Heat B])

The docks have been central to Kharesso's commerce since the city's founding, and has continued to act as a hub for trade despite the discovery of modern and magical travel methods. The docks line the Tagra River, alternating from one side and the other. Two of the docks are dominated by an enormous wooden cog (read as: trading ship), sat square in the middle of the river.

Terrain

General: The actual fighting area is the two docks leading to the ship, and the ship itself. Participants traverse the two docks that are on each side of the ship, and stay on the ship itself. Going beyond the wharves themselves or into the river will begin the count for a ring out.

Weapons: There docks have been cleared away in preparation for the fight, but participants can still find improvised weapons on the ship. Lengths of rope, saws, mallets, wooden planks -- any of the tools needed to maintain a wooden ship while on a voyage.

Bonus Features: None.

MelonusHead Wrote:

There was a sharp laugh from the opposing dock. "Well, doesn't this just beat all?"

At 5'9" the approaching Darien Magnus didn't exactly tower over the youngster, though his strong stance might have you believe otherwise. In sharp contrast to his opponent, Magnus sported a thick black leather long-coat that would match some form of space pirate over a suit of anti-ballistic armor. It was clear with the stylistic decisions in his attire that he likely fancied himself as some variant of gambler, what with the red and gold accents and casino-worthy card symbolism. A black device with a clear lens was attached over his right eye, similar to a cross between an eyepatch and a monocle. His boots were armored metal monstrosities which looked absolutely absurd when he moved with them at full speed; they must weigh at least a combined total of about 30 lbs. Attached to his belt were a futuristic revolver, a foot long bowie knive, and even more technological devices.

Even more concerning would be the fully automatic assault rifle the man held at the ready, complete with a ridiculous inch and a half pile bunker attached to the front of the weapon. As though to alleviate some concern, Darien performed a quick weapon clearing demonstration for the young boy as he approached, deliberately showing him the empty chamber of the high-tech weapon. Whether or not this gesture meant anything was besides the point; the boy was clearly not from anywhere Darien was familiar and possibly didn't even know what a firearm was.

Not that anyone would confuse the bounty hunter for one of the locals either. He joined the fighting league to build his renown and his first opponent ends up being a backwater street urchin with a stick. Go figure.

There was a smirk. "Ya know kid, no one will blame you if you want to walk away before you get yourself hurt." It was clear from Darien's demeanor that he expected nothing to result from this gesture, but he'd be damned if he could sleep after demolishing some wayward pup without at least a warning.

MelonusHead Wrote:

> ((Funny. The one time I don't play my Victorian magus I'm faced against what would have been a period-appropriate opponent.))

Darien shrugged with a grin, still wielding the rifle down at the ready. "I like the the cut of your jib, boy." Truth be told, the he had a difficult time understanding John clearly anyway. At least the boy's overall intent was easy enough to figure out.

"Let's just get to the point then."

With that Darien took off into a charge faster than most people carrying that sort of load likely should. As he took off, something unhinged itself from the inside of his coat with an audible ~Clink, dropping a grapefruit-sized metal sphere. Instead of smashing onto the deck of the ship, this drone quickly rose to orbit the bounty hunter, its single robotic eye aglow with a piercing blue light.

Darien Magnus wasn't going to waste time. There was a lot of ship to cover and he lacked effective long-ranged weaponry without his ammunition.

show spoilerhide spoilerDrone 1: Standby Order

Drone 2: Inactive

Drone 3: Unavailable

Drone 4: Unavailable

MelonusHead Wrote:

> For ease of reference: > > Average Run Speed: 10 MPH > > Burst Sprint Speed: 21 MPH

Johnny boy would learn fairly quickly that surprising the bounty hunter with the terrain would be... very difficult at best. The sensory implant in Darien's brain took the brunt of the workload in terms of geospacial data, allowing him to memorize and react to changes in his environment very rapidly. This did not extend to his opponent or their movements, but it was very handy when it came to not fumbling below deck like a goddamned retard.

Magnus would give the boy credit; he was certainly quick. As his opponent veered towards the aft of the ship, the bounty hunter slowed his pace to a fast jog, veering around the obstacle by stepping onto the small elevated platform surrounding the entrance below deck. Circling around the edge of the obstacle, his goals were to close the game, pressure John into melee range, while test the extent of the boy's abilities. With a slight gesture of his head, as though prompting the machine to move, the drone swiftly moved towards his opponent, attempting to change orbit to its new target. This mechanical ioun stone would focus its ceaseless gaze on John, who would feel the tingling build-up of static electricity if he simply ignored it. This wouldn't pose an immediate danger, though he might feel a harmless shock if he tried to touch the railing of the stairs or something.

No sooner did the first drone depart did a second detach itself from Darien's coat with the telltale ~Clink.

show spoilerhide spoilerDrone 1: Target Order

Drone 2: Standby Order

Drone 3: Unavailable

Drone 4: Unavailable

MelonusHead Wrote:

There wasn't much thought involved. Unable to evade well due to his positioning, Darien reflexively rose his battle rifle to protect himself. A rock with twice the force of a fastball pitch would do horrible things to Darien's face, but it would do next to nothing to his battle rifle aside from scratching the s**t out of it.

"Huh. I never took you for a Psyker." While the bounty hunter was making some pretty gross and likely incorrect assumptions about the nature of the boy's powers, Psyker was also an all-encompassing term for anyone with even vaguely supernatural abilities. In either case, the bounty hunter rewarded he opponent was a toothy grin; this made things more interesting. Assuming he could catch the wiry b*****d anyway.

MagnusXL Wrote:

> With a slight gesture of his head, as though prompting the machine to move, the drone swiftly moved towards his opponent, attempting to change orbit to its new target. This mechanical ioun stone would focus its ceaseless gaze on John, who would feel the tingling build-up of static electricity if he simply ignored it.

MelonusHead Wrote:

> He hadn’t spent much time in careful observation, but certainly enough to realize there was some sort of flying metal thing around his enemy, he’d clock that with the next stone just in case it was something important.

It might have been more prudent to focus on the 'metal thing' already tailing him.

Slowing his pace to a jog, Darien changed course as his opponent attempted to duck behind the mast, attempting to go around the other side in an attempt to cut him off. At the same time, he cocked his head slightly to indicate his recently activated drone join its brother in orbit around the Cockney rogue. Traveling at a rate of around 20 MPH on average, the drone wouldn't take long to reach the opponent, especially considering it could ignore any ground based terrain.

Assuming the drone reached Jon uninhibited, it would begin a two-foot orbit around the boy and immediately discharge a powerful shock with a loud Zaaaaap! This short-ranged arc of electricity discharged 50,000 volts over the duration of a half of a second; while this didn't have the amperage to cause any lasting damage, it would likely be enough to stun the rogue and throw him off balance, potentially toppling him to the ground and allowing the bounty hunter to close in on him.

show spoilerhide spoilerDrone 1: Target Order

Drone 2: Attack Order [Firing]

Drone 3: Unavailable

Drone 4: Unavailable

MelonusHead Wrote:

> show spoilerhide spoiler

As the first drone was the one targeting Jon with the preparatory laser, the second drone was the only one actually administering the shock. With the drone taken out of commission before it could even close the gap, there would be no way for it to administer its tasering shock. That didn't stop the remaining orb from ionizing John with all its might like the little droid that could.

Of course, this freed up processing power for Darien, allowing him to deploy yet another drone with a telltale ~Clink!

Instead of following his fleet opponent upstairs and chasing him around the ship endlessly, the bounty hunter swiftly headed towards the open cabin. While moving forward, he simultaneously pulled a cylindrical device from his belt and lobbed it around where Jon was standing. He wasn't looking for pinpoint accuracy, which might make sense to Jonathon if he knew anything about grenade-shaped objects with a single button or trigger. For the time being however, nothing seemed to be happening with the device.

Now entering the cabin proper, he took but a moment to memorize his surroundings before a metal shutter covered his eyepiece, blacking out his view completely when he also deliberately shut his other exposed eye. If he couldn't get to John, Darien was determined to find a way to force John to come to him.

Echo Vision Wrote:

> [Echo Vision] The a small metallic sheet slides over the eyepiece to indicate that vision modes have changed. Light is completely blocked out, his eyepiece instead giving him a monochromatic false-color representation of his surroundings as the device constantly sends out sonar pulses. This vision also causes Darien to 'see' sound waves in a sense, allowing him to track otherwise invisible targets. Sonar has the added benefit of showing him an outline of the contents within relatively hollow containers. Echo Vision absolutely unnerves Darien, who uses it infrequently.

Drone 1: Target Order

= DESTROYED =

Drone 3: Standby Order

Drone 4: Unavailable

MelonusHead Wrote:

Coincidentally, Darien also liked having time to work. As absolutely unsettling as monochromatic sonar sight was, it was a massive advantage in his current situation. Ceiling space tended to be mostly hollow as it is also used for the structure's wiring, circulation, and plumbing. On a ship, this area was about 4-10 inches on average. This was convenient since it allowed him to both easily view obstructions and clearly see where John's feet were impacting above.

Darien smiled a little as the boy fled the grenade, though felt a tinge of irritation as yet another drone was destroyed. As John moved to the ship's starboard, the bounty hunter followed suit, never venturing far from the entrance area. This gave him a relatively shorter path than his opponent, allowing him to catch up and cut him off. For good measure, he grabbed his secondary grenade and deliberately bounced it off the ground towards the back of the ship as he moved, attempting to throw his opponent off as to his actual position with conflicting sounds.

Of course, this wouldn't be a perfect setup against an opponent with superhuman senses.

When John reached the staircase, Darien would be there to meet him. Quickly shifting to a wide stance, he would thrust his battle rifle towards the ceiling as John neared the top of the staircase. With a click of the trigger, the pile bunker was employed with the ear-shattering sound of shearing metal. The foot long metal spike wouldn't penetrate the ceiling by much, but it would be enough to leave a spike-shaped hole in John's foot an inch and a half in diameter. He didn't know what sort of defensive capabilities his opponent had, but given that the pile bunker was designed to rend steel power armor, Magnus rather liked his chances here.

It would be pretty clear at this point that the grenades were nothing more than inactive diversions. Good thing too, since Darien didn't really feel like EMP blasting himself.

Drone 1: = DESTROYED =

Drone 2: = DESTROYED =

Drone 3: Standby Order

Drone 4: Inactive

MelonusHead Wrote:

Darien wasn't entirely sure what John was doing above, but he easily saw the vibration as the boy stumbled backwards and fell on his a**. John wouldn't have to worry much about stepping on the spike again; the weapon would retract as soon as the attack was over, resetting itself. It didn't take much for Darien to shift forward and strike out again with the pile bunker, blasting another hole in the poor ship. He wasn't even being particularly choosy with his targets, aiming for the large mass that most recently hit the deck (e.g. John's arse).

"I mean, I guess."

Darien would have felt bad about repeatedly skewering the kid, but his bravado and excessive cursing dispelled any qualms he would have had about it. John's reprieve here was that the pilebunker had a very limited battery supply, but it didn't really have a 'cooldown' in the traditional sense. In any case, administering first aid while your opponent is able to poke at you from below wouldn't have been the bounty hunter's first strategy, but to each their own.

The message was clear: Get off the ******** roof or Darien is going to keep spear fishing.

Drone 1: = DESTROYED =

Drone 2: = DESTROYED =

Drone 3: Standby Order

Drone 4: Inactive

MelonusHead Wrote:

Darien felt the shock of his opponent slamming his pile bunker and felt a different sort of shock when the wiry rapscallion managed to dent the s**t out of the spike. When the mechanism didn't recoil as efficiently as it should have, Darien was forced to help pull the weapon through the ceiling with a mighty pull, showering the area with flecks of wood, dust, and debris. The hole in the ceiling wouldn't be massive, but one could easily peer through if they were standing above. Eyeing the damage done to his weapon, the bounty hunter frowned. While the pile bunker could technically function in the literal definition, it was far more likely to do damage itself further than it was to its target.

"Geez. If that don't beat all..."

John's confusion was well founded, though were inside the captain's quarters to watch Darien it would make more sense. Staying towards the wall with the entrance, the space pirate was allowed to avoid most of the furniture and accouterments purely based on likely placement; most people didn't stack all their furniture by the front door. There was -some- finagling he had to do to be sure, but not nearly enough to offset the fact that his opponent made a large sweeping arc along the ceiling to avoid a dud of a grenade.

That said, seeing as John had moved towards the port side staircase, Darien's objective was effectively accomplished. The metal shutter around his eyepiece opened, allowing natural light to enter his eyes anew. Echo vision had a tendency to creep him the ******** out, so he was glad to have his sight returned (along with his full depth perception). Stepping out from the captain's quarters, he turned to face his opponent as he reached the bottom of the stairwell, rifle held down low in both arms. There was yet another ~CLINK as the final drone was deployed.

"Nice of you to join me. The way I figure it, I'm owed a new rifle."

Despite the loss of his Pile Bunker, Darien Magnus seemed relatively calm. He may have an advantage, but he had some measure of respect for the kid who walked off that sort of wound like a man. Even though the thief was partially crippled, there was no telling what tricks he still had up his sleeve.

Drone 1: = DESTROYED =

Drone 2: = DESTROYED =

Drone 3: Standby Order

Drone 4: Standby Order

MelonusHead Wrote:

The telekinetic stone found its mark, slamming into the left side of the bounty hunter's chin. Magnus had good instincts when it came to avoiding projectile weapons, but his reaction time was simply too slow to avoid an unexpected change in trajectory at high speeds like that. The most he could do was brace himself and tilt his head slightly as the stone came into contact, effectively preventing the rotation of his skull from knocking him unconscious. Still, a wicked bruise began to form along his left chin and cheek, darkening immediately.

Magnus would later acknowledge that he probably deserved that.

"That was your freebie, kid." Darien's tone was a touch less arrogant and jovial than it was before. He would have rubbed his jaw, but he was put on the defensive; his battle riffle was brought upwards horizontal with his body and ready to defend himself as John came in. His knees bent slightly, adopting a stance with a lower center of gravity to better receive potential attacks from his opponent.

If John was particularly observant, he might note that one of the drones began training its ceaseless gaze in his general direction, though it continued to orbit its master. In either case, it was clear that he was being watched.

Drone 1: = DESTROYED =

Drone 2: = DESTROYED =

Drone 3: Precaution Order

Drone 4: Standby Order

MelonusHead Wrote:

Suddenly, a crazed expression took over Darien's calm if not stoic face. The skin peeled back like a human pumpkin. His teeth flashed bright white, gums exposed from how far his lips had curled back. As the cane was swung and begun to touch that massive rifle, Magnus had a flash of insane irreverence come over him. You could see the white of his eyes- and the red of the flesh beside it. A hot sweat came over his exposed flesh.

All John would likely catch before it happened, was a twinkle in the rifle wielding man's eye.

*ACCELERATOR*

-Accelerator: As a last resort, Darien can activate Accelerator. This implant removes the limiter on his nervous system to greatly increase his physical ability. Due to going over their normal limits by releasing the body's restraints, it puts large strain on the bounty hunter's body and can not be used very often. Once the limiter is enabled again, Darien Magnus suffers negative effects based on how long the function was utilized. If Darien Magnus activates Accelerator more than once a fight, it progress to the next severe step as though every round were used consecutively; there is no resetting this penalty. [1 Post] Darien suffers intense pain throughout his body. While this doesn't completely disable him, it is highly distracting and prevents him from doing tasks that require finite motor skills for a post. [2 Posts] Darien suffers muscle weakness, losing 50% of his physical strength and mobility for two posts. [3 Posts] Darien drops to his knees and can hardly move for five minutes. This is the limit. If he hasn't won the fight by now, he can no longer continue fighting and is forced to forfeit. [PNS Connection]: Vagus Nerve

Rapidly, far more rapidly than normally possible, Magnus would suddenly raise his left hand - though not to try and halt his right arm's horizontal movement which was the opening grabber John had desired. But if not to guard or defend, then for what reason?

Well of course.. there was only one reason.

Scorch Spewer: Mounted on Darien's left wrist, this bracer houses a hidden flamethrower. The superheated gas within shoots out to three meters in a straight line about six inches in diameter and burns hotter closer to the launcher. Within one meter the flames burn at 1,200 degrees Fahrenheit, 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit within two meters, and tapers off at 800 degrees Fahrenheit at max range. There is enough ammunition inside Scorch Spewer to fire it for ten seconds (two posts).

... extra close range bath of flames. Thanks to the mental implant that allowed Darien to give mental inputs to his armaments, this was a breeze! Well, metaphorically anyway. For John, it'd feel more like a particularly agonizing barbecue.

Perhaps John would persevere through being cooked to uppercut Magnus' jaw with the cane. That was possible. A regrettable flaw.

Looking to have achieved peak orgasm, Darien's face was riddled with ecstasy - tongue out of his mouth and eyes rolled back in his skull as he bent over backwards and howled "THROUGH FIRE, JUSTICE IS SERVED!!!!" Darien Magnus groaned with pleasure, spewing the hidden spewer maliciously across John's body as his wrist swiveled his hand in patterns to spew the stream all across John's upper body. Maybe John was the sort who didn't mind being cooked like sirloin steak and would power through becoming a burn ward victim to continue his cane salvo. Stranger things have happened!

Drone 3: Precaution Order Drone 4: Target Order

MelonusHead Wrote: