Colosseum - Round 2 - Kopaka vs Courier Six

[Storyteller]

With a glance, Kopaka noted that he fought on the Coruscant side of the battlefield. Did that make him the hero or the villain?

On the other end, Courier Six paid a short glimpse to the demonic weapons before waiting for the sound of the gong.

When it was struck, the two warriors were off.

Judge – Sinbad

Kopaka posts first and may do so at any time after 10 PM CDT.

Description of fight area and other information can be found here - <!-- l --><a class="postlink-local" href="http://omniverse-rpg.com/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=4362">viewtopic.php?f=28&t=4362</a><!-- l -->

Please refer any questions to that thread.

Word Limit: 750
Posts: 3
Time Limit: 48 hours
SP use is enabled. SP does not regenerate between rounds. Injuries may occur. Neither injuries nor SP use are factored into judgment, only the quality of writing

[Kopaka]

As usual, Kopaka remained motionless even after the gong sounded, gauging his opponent carefully and planning a route of attack. On some level, however, Kopaka was also experiencing an irritating moment of hesitation. Though the Toa’s confidence was usually indefatigable, the biomech was distracted by two distinct concerns. Primarily, the fact that he had been placed on the side of the hated Empire. It was, more than likely, an outcome of pure coincidence, but the fact remained that someone, somehow, may have discovered his true allegiance to Palpatine. Could this possibly be a subtle message? Again, probably not, but the possibility still gnawed at the back of Kopaka’s processor like an angry ussal crab.

The Courier was also taking some time to analyze her opponent. It was definitely mechanical to a degree, but this robot was nothing like the clunky, slow excuses for automatons that she was familiar with. Kopaka’s glistening carapace and lithe form was more evocative of tangling with someone in power armor. Really, really nice power armor. Still, the frosty chump wasn’t moving, so she might as well get shooting while the shooting was good. The wasteland gun master called the Ratslayer to her capable hands and took a knee, scoping the Toa’s shiny metal head into her sights. With a gentle squeeze, there was but a small clacking sound as the silenced bullet fired forth.

Kopaka was unfamiliar with guns, but he did understand the concept of ranged, mechanical weapons. That said, when the high bore round of the Ratslayer ricocheted loudly off of the round dome of the Akaku, he knew it was time to move. The shot was not an entire loss for the Courier; the force of the round had managed to dislodge Kopaka’s mask ever so slightly, forcing the biomech to readjust it before moving again. This split second opening gave her more than enough time to line up another shot at his much more vulnerable looking knee, since it was clear that the mask was definitely not just for show.

As she pulled the trigger, however, she had to squint her eyes as there came a sudden blast of blue light out from under Kopaka’s feet. In the next moment, he was out of her scope, and upon looking out to spot her target, the Courier balked slightly as she witnessed the sight of Kopaka effortlessly bounding across the metal platforms between them with great, leaping strides. The Toa was more than glad now that the Lorn creature had been kind enough to give him the Kanohi Miru, as this sort of environment suited its powers of levitation perfectly. The crowd cooed and shouted in glee at the spectacular sight of Kopaka gliding across the battlefield as the radiant blue jets of thrust that propelled him sent azure light dancing over the sullen metallic landscape.

Despite her best efforts to get to cover within one of the rather familiar feeling metal shacks on her platform, the biomech was on top of the Courier within an instant. The prospect of tangling with the robot’s longsword with the relatively miniscule blade of Blood Nap did not please the Courier at all, but until she managed to put some distance between them again, it would have to do. Still, as Kopaka began to assail the armored woman with a series of wide, simple slashes, the skilled brawler couldn’t help but notice that the token attacks of her opponent were almost lazy or apathetic. As if he was just going through the motions of battle while his mind was elsewhere.

Such was the case, as Kopaka was more preoccupied with the second thought that had been bothering him; one that was more existential in nature. It was the fact that, despite his considerable battle prowess, he really wasn’t enjoying any of this at all. Any of the other Toa may have been better suited to such a spectacle of combat: Tahu, with his brash, fanciful style of fighting, or Lewa, with his constant desire to be the center of attention. Only Gali, with her pacifist ways, may have been less-

Kopaka was knocked out of the mental miasma that had been preoccupying him as the Courier seized an opportunity to deftly swipe one of his legs out from under him after a particularly lackadaisical swipe. The armored huntress quickly wheeled around the rear exit of the shack she had been defending from and smiled maliciously as she pumped a fresh slug into her shotgun...

749 Words wordcounter.net

[Morene Fellon]

The Courier was about ready to laugh in slight amusement at how easy she seemed to grab up point-blank shots with her Caravan Shotgun, before she hesitated at the thought, pulling the trigger a tad too late than she should've. Another familiar boom cracked through the air as this Kopaka individual immediately picked himself up, slamming his strangely-shaped shield into the Courier's gun, herself in a bit of shock as it flew into the air. This was the moment in which the mechanical being in front of her would have reveled in the look on her face, had it not been for the mask covering it.

As Six revved herself back, she got lost in thought, worried that she didn't know exactly how to handle a shield. She couldn't remember exactly, but if those history books that happened to not be charred served her right in the Mojave, the ancient Romans once used shields, but for some reason, she had never seen a member of the Legionnaire wannabes known as Caesar's Legion fight with one, as much as it would have made sense. Six's thoughts were interrupted as soon as something even colder than steel sliced her gut, forcing her to jerk backwards as far as she could.

Shivering slightly as she clutched the new found cut in her stomach, the Courier realized she was on absolutely no equal footing to her opponent, seeing how he combined two things she found herself extremely unfamiliar with; the cold, and the usage of shields in a fight. Melee opponents were easy enough, just shoot them in the knees and watch 'em beg for mercy as you take a bounty on their head. But considering both of her opponents started off their fights taking bullets to the head and barely flinching, she could only imagine what a shield would do. Not only that, but Six could already feel the ice that previously formed on the edges of her sliced flesh thawing out, herself almost too shaken up to notice.

Had not been for her already fast reaction times, the Courier's head might have been split open at this moment if she didn't swerve away from another swipe of Kopaka's sword coming for her skull, putting her back in the scene, if you will. Jogging backwards, Six could definitely see Kopaka's gentle care in his movements, himself not nearly being as hasty with this fight as she was. Perhaps he knew how conflicted the Courier was at this moment, and she didn't like the thought at all.

The mere idea of being weaker than somebody for once was something the Courier could barely cope with, let alone being almost worried about it. As she unholstered both her Blood-Nap knife from her belt to hold in her left hand and her Lucky revolver in her right, she kept a close eye on the mechanical adversary, almost confused at the feeling she got from being so intimidated by him. The Courier picked up into a heavy jog, trying her best to ignore the already clotting wound in her gut, thinking further about this brand new feeling of intensity that got her blood pumping. Of course she's felt this before, even in her homeland where she was widely considered as the dreaded, but to this extent? Very rarely did something like this happen to her, and she was beginning to enjoy it as such.

The roaring of the crowd behind the both opponents in battle seemed to be deafening to the Courier, half her mind focusing on Kopaka's movement being picked up for another attack, and the other half being lost in wonder. Taking the large Bowie knife in her hand, the wastelander immediately raised it up, faking a defensive stance as the deathly cold warrior in front of her. Kopaka swung his blade at Six's ankles, making a strangely distinctive sound as it missed upon the gunslinger hopping over it. The Courier could only assume this meant it was much more powerful than she originally noted.

Taking the cue, Six jerked herself forward, stabbing down at her opponent, before he immediately raised his shield again. The loud bash rang into Six's ears, but she knew now to keep an actual grip on her weapon this time around, seeing as Kopaka tried to swipe it away once more. Only this time, the knife stuck into the shield, merely moving his opponent's arm just enough to expose her fleshy sides, which he promptly took advantage of.

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Conveniently enough, 748 words exactly for this post!

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[Kopaka]

The twisting motion of Kopaka's whirling shield had done its job in throwing his opponent off balance, and as the Courier's knife hand was wrenched to the right, the Toa followed suit by jabbing the Ice Sword forward, its harshly humming blade seeming to chuckle as it bit into the skin beneath her heavy coat. It was an agonizing blow, and the Courier let out a stuttering gasp at the stinging cold that now permeated her body. It this was going to happen every time this shiny clown managed to tag her, this fight was going to suck, despite her newfound sense of thrill. Still, this didn't mean she wasn't going to give as good as she got. Bucket head here may have been just a touch more spry than she was, but that didn't mean he could dodge a point blank shot to the chest. With a ferocious grunt, the Courier ignored the splitting pain in her side and swung her gun arm straight up to Kopaka's torso. The Toa's eyes went wide for just a moment before he was knocked onto his hind end by the force of the high power round.

Kopaka's mind was in a haze, as a pain blossomed in his chest of the like he had never felt before. Several brightly flashing warning signs on his internal HUD immediately notified that Toa that he had taken a serious blow. As he reeled on the ground, Kopaka clutched at his chest, trying to get a feel for the damage. The bullet had not actually penetrated the thick plating on his chest, but it was certainly lodged deep inside the protosteel plating, and if it wasn't for the frigid nature of his body, the wound would probably be bleeding quite profusely. Move. He had to move. He had no idea where the Courier was or what she was preparing. Kopaka called upon the Kanohi Mahiki, causing two illusory doubles to shimmer in to existence around Kopaka. The Courier watched cautiously from around the corner. Originally she had planned to try and plant another round in this thing's vulnerable looking neck, but it was still pretty early in the fight, and she had no idea what it was capable of. This point was proven when two more of it flickered into existence. Based on how the doubles showed up, the Courier was pretty sure it was just some sort of light trick, like her Stealth Boy could do, but damn if it wasn't convincing. The Three Kopaka's slowly lurched to their feet, and quickly dashed in all directions, crossing each other's path to try and confuse their attacker.

Unfortunately for the Toa, the Courier tended to have a knack for Three Card Monty, and keeping track of the actual Kopaka was pretty damn trivial. She watched the true biomech jog towards one of the bouncing pads at the far end of her platform and land clumsily on the next platform over. Ducking down behind the walls of her little shack, the Courier activated her own form of camouflage, and vanished from sight as the Stealth Boy powered on with a series of electrical snaps. Meanwhile, Kopaka turned around and scowled as he failed to spot the Courier anywhere on the platform they had been on. Calling upon his favored Kanohi, the Akaku, Kopaka subtly glanced around the arena, trying to portray a visage of confusion. In reality, he knew exactly where the Courier was, as it was trivial for the all-seeing Akaku to glimpse through the veil that the female human wore. The Toa bided his time on the platform, watching her.

Kopaka seized his chance as the Courier activated a bounce pad of her own, having traversed a few platform to his right. The device sent her flying through the air, unseen to the crowd, but Kopaka knew exactly where she was going to land. With a snap of his arm, the Toa blasted her landing area with his elemental power, causing a thick sheet of barbed ice to spread ten feet wide, over the edge of the platform. The Courier uttered a distinct 'oof' as she crunched into the vicious rime, and yelped in surprise as she went sliding over the edge. Kopaka walked slowly towards the edge of the platform, his metallic feet clanging resonantly on the corroded steel. The Toa let out a yelp of his own as the dangling Courier grabbed his foot and sent him tumbling over the edge as well.

750 words exactly on wordcounter.net

[Morene Fellon]

In a short time even too quick for even the Courier herself to react, the hefty mechanical being she threw down with herself was much too heavy for her arms to handle at all, the wastelander immediately lost her grip on the floating platform as Kopaka tightened his grasp on the woman, and though his seeming lack of hands made it hard for such a thing to be possible, it certainly didn't stop him from hugging onto her leg, almost breaking a tendon in her leg.

As soon as the both of them started falling to the toxic pits below, the Courier gasped in pain, desperately kicking away at her adversary, before eventually he let go. Six was almost relieved at this, before she suddenly realized she was plummeting into a vat of who-knows what, and to make matters worse, she could barely see what was below her due to her terribly awkward position in the air.

A second passed, and then the Courier felt a striking pain on her right rib, a loud metallic clang immediately following. Bouncing up from the collision, Six immediately started falling again, unable to breathe for a short moment. She couldn't tell what was worse, the panic she was experiencing, or the horrible sting in her back.

Before she knew it, every single inch of the Courier's body was wet with a awfully uncomfortably feeling liquid, and Kopaka was nowhere to be found, though that was the least of her worries at the moment. Instinctively trying to breathe and filter in the harmful chemicals through her mask, the Courier found that was the biggest mistake she's made yet, immediately choking on the dreadful substance. The wastelander really did regret relying on that so much now, but after spending years at a time in an irradiated desert, she could only hope it was a reasonable mess-up.

Grasping at her throat, Six's eyes began tearing up, coughing up every last bit of the chemicals invading her mouth and nose. Going further down into the pit with each passing second, the Courier frantically looked around the murky mess of chemicals, before suddenly gracing her sight upon a strangely sharp pile of metals. Swimming towards the first thing she saw, she soon realized that this broken mess of technology was actually a crashed vehicle of some sort. Whatever it was, it sort of looked like a similar flight-based transport back in her home turf.

What really caught her eye beyond all this, was the wonderful sight of the barrel of a gun stuck in the heap of crashed garbage beneath her. The fancy demonic armory she saw when she started certainly didn't interest her as much as this, whatever it is. Hastily swimming through the vat of chemicals as quickly as she could, the Courier's head started pulsing in pain, forcing the gunslinger to immediately start ripping away at the destroyed chunks of metal, grabbing at the weapon she was looking for.

Barely even looking at the gun now in her hands, she immediately swam upwards, feeling her vision beginning to fade as her head got worse and worse by the moment. Even the long-lasting effects of radiation weren't this bad in comparison, though the Courier couldn't tell if she was used to it or not. Her chest began tightening to severe levels as her breath got more and more used up by the second.

Suddenly as ever, the Toa warrior was interrupted in the middle of himself swiping away at the excess chemicals by the sound of a loud splash behind him. He turned, only to find the wastelander shakily getting out of the pit of chemical toxins, dripping from head to toe in the debilitating liquid. Cocking back the bolt on the strange weapon the Courier held, she got off her knees, walking to Kopaka, whom was examining Six in her obviously weakened state.

The Courier could compare this to the feeling of having a flashbang go off in one's face, and back where she came from, that might not have been all too bad, because after all, the effect wanes after a while. The difference between that situation and the one she was currently in however, was that this effect did not let up. Every step she made took more and more of a number on her head, and that didn't help her vision in the slightest.

That wouldn't stop her from trying, though. To that, she raised her weapon, and so did her opponent.

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Word count for this post is exactly 750, thanks to Wordcounter!

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[Kopaka]

Kopaka was having his own biological issues, having been contaminated by the filth that had infiltrated the seams and joints of his carapace. Normally biomechs such as he were notably resilient to infectious diseases, but the severity and speed the myriad afflictions indicated that whatever this virulence was, it was far from natural. Whereas the Courier had taken the opportunity to investigate the corroding hulks that languished at the bottom of the fetid quagmire, Kopaka had paid more attention to extricating himself from the bilious ooze. The Toa hoisted himself on to the nose of an upended metal relic, as great sheets of grey-green slime sloughed off of his otherwise pristine armor. Kopaka hunkered down and spun his shield up, creating a vile spray of gunk as it whirled up to speed. Using the Kanohi Akaku, the biomech peered through the fog that shifted laboriously over the burbling grime and watched as the Courier pried a heavy looking weapon off of the hull of one of the swamped vehicles.

A quiet moment passed between them as they stared at each other, sniffling and panting as the pervasive ick ravaged their bodies. The pain and aches were distracting, bordering on debilitating, but both combatants had adrenaline on their side. Time, however, would no doubt draw contrast between the respective longevity of their fleeting vitality. Without warning, and seemingly against all odds, the immense laser cannon began to spew a violent stream of red blaster bolts, the force of which almost knocked Kopaka off of his perch as he desperately tried to deflect the brunt of the attack with the Ice Shield. There was only so much the whistling bastion could do, however, and Kopaka let out a prolonged grunt as the fiery lances of energy ate into his limbs and armor. It was all he could manage to do to call upon the Kanohi Miru one more and rocket up back onto the metal platforms, out of the immediate line of fire.

As Kopaka landed heavily on one of the floating terraces, the biomech fell to one knee, grasping at his chest. The bullet wound was becoming increasingly aggravated the more that the Toa moved and jumped all over the place, and having acidic slime in the wound was also far from helpful. With a wheeze and a cough, Kopaka ignored the Courier for a moment and looked around for options. One of the nearby structures housed a rather large turret with dual blaster cannons, though Kopaka was loathe to consider using any weapon other than his own guile and usual tools. To use guns and other such ranged weaponry did not suit the Toa Code well. They were cowardly and engendered dispassion for those warriors which brought them to bear. Then again, Kopaka was feeling rather dispassionate about this fight already. Dealing with a choice between integrity and pragmatism was not an easy task for the Toa. While caught up in his ruminations, Kopaka was distantly aware that the Courier was firing at him again, but it was rather ineffectual, given the fact that he was protected by the thick, corrugated steel beneath him. It then dawned on the biomech that, perhaps, the female was not firing at him, but the platform itself. This question was answered when, with a monstrous gonging, the metal haven sagged down a few feet as the now super-heated bolts that had once supported it were blasted away. The Toa barely had enough time to spring outwards, away from the collapsing structure as it ripped free of its housing and slammed into the muck below with a tremendous splash.

As Kopaka hit the surface of the adjacent dais, he rolled on his side a few times before coming to a stop, sprawled out facing up. The pain was incredible, and though he usually found such agony invigorating, the underlying corruption of the pollution was too much of a drain on his fatigue. With a long groan, the biomech rolled over and woozily rose to his feet, watching as the incensed Courier climbed up the impromptu ramp she had created. She glanced at him through glinting orange goggles as he stood there panting. With a reluctant whirl, Kopaka turned on his heels and made for the nearest turret, easily hopping into the emplacement with the assistance of his mask. All pretension cast aside, Kopaka flicked on the master switch for the Empire turret and did his best to put the Courier in his fever-blurred sights...

[Morene Fellon]

Mumbling to herself, the Courier couldn't tell if she was hallucinating at this point, or there really was a giant, hand-mounted turret pointing at her face. Had she known this rifle in her hands was an energy based weapon, she probably would have gone for the turret instead. As soon as the barrels of said turret began revving back and forward however, was when the wastelander woman decided she wasn't hallucinating in the slightest, interestingly enough. Under the already rusted mask hiding the Courier's face, her mouth quivered before cursing to herself.

"Damnit."

After that was said and done, the Courier immediately dived for the limited amount of space she had to dodge on these horribly tiny platforms as she heard the squelching of laser beams exploding behind her. She was almost grateful that the fact that even more energy weapons were being used, before she remembered how horrible it felt to be burned by one of those. At the very least, it motivated her to stay out of the way for once.

Finding no time to herself to even think about what she needed to do in a situation such as this, the Courier held her breath as she jumped to another platform, barely getting onto it as the slab wobbled around due to the sudden weight. She continuously avoided more and more laser beams, grateful that the turret couldn't move as fast as she could, nor could Kopaka keep his focus. In all honesty, Six found herself unable to either, dumbfounded as to how to counter this because of her pounding head.

Wanting to drop the Empire blaster rifle under her arm as she ran and jumped to another moving platform, the Courier formed a slight idea as to how to distract the fevered biomech. Hesitating for a short moment, Six heard yet another beam of energy explode next to her, but this time, she actually felt a burning sensation flare up on her leg. It only took a split second after that for the Courier's vision to fade in a blinding white light. Then, the pain started rolling into her skin.

Kopaka himself could barely see, despite his undivided attention to who he was shooting at, yet he knew he finally got a shot in upon hearing Six gasp for air. Seeing her fall to the ground made him stop a second, thinking this might have been the point in which he had won. Trying his best to focus his already blurred vision, he then saw the gunslinger downed on the floor rev her arms back, before lobbing the rifle in her hand in his general direction.

Pulling out her Lucky revolver soon after she made the effort to throw something at her opponent, she watched as the butt of the rifle hit Kopaka's shoulder, ripping his hand from the turret's trigger. Almost cracking a smile at the sight, she immediately started fanning her revolver's hammer, releasing a flurry of bullets, a few hitting her adversary's head, doing little to nothing but sending him backwards.

Almost dropping her pistol, the Courier kept a firm grip on it as she slowly stood, Kopaka groaning as he tried to regain his posture. Limping towards the edge of the platform, Six mumbled to herself as she counted the few jumps she would have to make before finally reaching the Toa. Kopaka, finally getting himself standing, knew the turret wouldn't be able to aim at the woman beneath him with how close she was. Instead of waiting for her, the biomech decided to jump down a few platforms himself, a bit aggravated at the Courier for shooting him so many times, which was strange for him.

The competitors immediately hopped onto the same platform, slowly moving along with the floating slab. The pain in the Courier's leg didn't let up, causing her to trip as a result. Kopaka however, didn't stop walking forward, despite himself wanting a rest. Though, the both of them felt that this was going to end very soon, considering how weak the two of them were.

Taking a knee, Six sprawled her injured leg out to the side as the Toa warrior continued to walk forward, brandishing his blade. The wastelander shakily pulled out her Caravan shotgun, before clicking a few buttons on her Pip-boy stationed on her left arm, giving Kopaka time to rush forward and attack Six, to which she raised her gun immediately, pulling at the trigger and praying.

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745 words in this last post!

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