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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ankh-Morpork Guard" data-source="post: 3644350" data-attributes="member: 10079">Chapter 491: Self DefenseTobias ducked under a swipe from one of the Yuuzhan Vong’s small, dagger-like weapon. There was a grunt of pain above him mixed with a deafening thrumming of a lightsaber passing too close, and when Tobias returned to an upright position, the Vong was on the ground with a slash mark across its chest.    He spun around to see Master Ral’s lightsaber a blur of movement, with the Omwati in the center relatively still. The Vong had quickly asserted that the Jedi Master was more of a threat than Tobias, who had taken a good cut across from the shoulder from one of the thrown razor bugs and then another slice across his arm when the Vong got close...only to have the attacked taken down by Master Ral. After that, they had gone for Master Ral, leaving only a couple of the Vong, who were wearing very odd looking clothes that looked to stick to their bodies at points on their shoulders and hips, coming for Tobias.    One of them was now dead.    The other was in front of Tobias, a safe distance from Master Ral and taking a short moment to gauge his opponent’s defenses. While he had to know that his opponent wasn’t exactly a master swordsman, hopefully the Vong had figured out just how inexperienced Tobias was. Currently, Tobias was holding his lightsaber up in front of him in the best defensive position he could manage with the sound of vicious fighting behind him.    Then the Vong lunged forward at Tobias, the dagger-sized blade shooting forward at surprising speed for his left shoulder. Tobias quickly reacted, spinning his lightsaber to cut off either the blade or the Vong’s hand, whichever the lightsaber managed to get. Instead, though, the lightsaber met with extremely strong resistance and just pushed the Yuuzhan Vong’s arm off to the side rather than cutting through it like it should have!    The Vong reacted quickly, spinning to the other side and then attempting a slash across Tobias’ now-exposed mid-section. In the movement, Tobias saw that the Vong was wearing some kind of shell-like armour in a few places...wrist, shoulders, and from the way the cloth ‘shirt’ was held, under that, too. And a strike from a lightsaber didn’t just go through it.    As the blade came in again, Tobias countered the only way he could. Hoping that he was faster than the Vong, he slashed upwards with his weapon. There was an odd sound as the lightsaber removed the Vong’s head from his torso and the rest of his body hit the deck with more of a thud than a clang.    Breathing heavily and now running completely on a mix of adrenaline and pure shock, Tobias spun around to see Master Ral...and instead saw another Vong coming at him. A flash of movement caught his eye, and Tobias quickly leaned left, hearing a buzzing noise slide right past his ear. One of those thud...or razor...whatever bugs. And a moment later, the Vong was bearing down on Tobias, sharp dagger thrusting at the young man’s chest.    This time, when Tobias swung his lightsaber around to parry the strike, he was ready to meet with resistance. Drawing on the teaching he’d received from Marix in close quarters fighting, Tobias spun with the momentum of his parry, pushing straight into the Vong. Tobias had the intelligence to shift the lightsaber into a one handed grip as he dug his elbow hard into the Vong’s stomach.    A shock of pain wracked through Tobias’ elbow as it hit the armoured chest of the Vong, but the sudden stop in his forward momentum combined with the surprise from a rather dangerous attack meant that the Vong stumbled back, slightly out of breath and recovering quickly. It was enough time for Tobias to do the one thing he knew could bring down a Yuuzhan Vong, and his lightsaber swung around to cleave this one’s head off, too.    However, this Vong ducked.    And then it drove forward at Tobias, tackling the smaller human and driving him down onto the ‘deck’. Tobias’ head spun from the force of the impact, and before he had a chance to even see what was happening, a sharp pain cut into his stomach.    Tobias made a noise that was both a gasp and a cry, leaving him at a loss for breath and desperately trying to convince himself that no, he wasn’t dead. While his mind was going crazy thanks to the intense pain, Tobias’ body took control and he kicked upwards, sending the Vong off of him and to the ground.    Gods that made it hurt worse!!!    The movement, especially using such force, had send another shockwave of pain through Tobias’ body, radiating from his stomach...and it felt like it was just pulsing constantly with pain. He didn’t know what to do! It hurt so much and it wasn’t like anything he’d ever...and...    Why wasn’t he morphing?!    The thought jumped up front and center, but through blurred vision, Tobias could see the Vong coming down over him again. And then his left hand reminded him that there was still a weapon in it. Immediately, Tobias swung the lightsaber across his body, trying to hit the Vong anywhere to just get him off long enough to remorph the wound. There was a cry of pain and a flash as the lightsaber made contact with something, and the form of the Vong was no longer visible through Tobias’ slightly red vision.    Okay. Quickly. Focus. Remorph. Quickly.    The pain didn’t go away. However, in a few short moments, it was an odd sort of pain that Tobias never really understood completely. It was like the brain telling the body that it was supposed to be in pain and hurting, despite the body having the evidence to back up its claim that it was, in fact, perfectly fine. The whole process seemed to be completely normal for Marix and Jyren but Tobias still found himself siding with his brain and being left in a state of confusion for at least a few moments.    But at least Tobias understood that this was one of the times he didn’t have time to be confused. As best he could manage, he pulled himself up to his feet and got the lightsaber up to defend himself again, eyes darting around. There were only two Vong around Master Ral now, each on opposite sides but still unable to break through the Jedi Master’s defenses...which was currently nothing.    Master Ral was simply standing between them, eyes on the one in front of him and green lightsaber held in front of him at a slight angle to protect his body. The two Vong were on either sides, dagger-like weapons in hand and crouched slightly, watching the Jedi Master intently. The bodies around them hinted at why they were suddenly being more cautious.    Tobias decided to tip the scales and use the moment of pause to his advantage, taking only three steps before swinging the lightsaber in a diagonal slash at the back of the Vong that was behind Master Ral. The Yuuzhan Vong spun around before Tobias reached him, the sound of movement and the thrumming of the lightsaber giving away any surprise attack, but when he raised his blade to parry the strike, he ended up losing an entire hand to the lightsaber thanks to the fact that Tobias was still moving forward and the weapon went past the defense.    Most things in the galaxy would take a moment to at least look down at their lost limb, but this Vong didn’t.  Instead, its other, free hand, swung straight in and caught Tobias hard in the jaw. A crack echoed through his skull, but Tobias was fairly sure his jaw hadn’t actually broken, though a second later he felt a leg sweep under him and yet again, Tobias hit the ‘deck’ below hard. But this time he lost his grip on his lightsaber and it fell to the side, out of his reach.    But the Vong was only able to take a single step forward before a green lightsaber shot straight through its obviously-unarmoured chest. Master Ral removed his lightsaber and the Vong dropped hard.    And then it was silent besides the sound of the lightsabers.    “On your feet, Tobias,” Master Ral turned and extended a hand to help him up, which Tobias gladly accepted. Once he was up, Master Ral gave him a very serious look, “Are you alright?”    Tobias looked down, seeing the patch of red that now stained his tunic. His next reaction was to reach down and pick up his own lightsaber, saying as he did so, “I’m okay. But I...I don’t think I’m going to be much good here.”    “You underestimate yourself,” Master Ral motioned, with his lightsaber, to the bodies around them, “Surviving five to one odds would suggest that you have more combat training than you give yourself credit for.”    “Just...self defense...” Tobias shrugged.    “Obviously, that is enough to keep you alive,” Master Ral then turned and looked around the violet and red coloured hangar they were in. He seemed to settle on one wall, though Tobias could see nothing special about it, and started that way, saying over his shoulder, “Lets keep moving. The faster we find out what that presence in the Force was the better.”    Tobias fell into step behind his Omwati Jedi Master, still feeling slightly in awe of this man who he still knew very little about, “How do you know where to go in here?”    “Reach out with your feelings,” the response was expected. And as Master Ral said that, he stopped next to an oval shaped indentation in the wall that reminded Tobias, vaguely, of the doors in the Palace on Alraxia...only it looked more like an actual organ of sorts. The Jedi Master looked over the section of wall, or bulkhead if it could be called that, and then added, “The only thing you feel beyond myself will be where we need to go.”</blockquote>

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