"Master Dreamer, this is Jedi Padawan Valek Xannoh, requesting coordinates for rally point. I'm surrounded by creatures. Nothing I can't handle, but help would be nice."

The sudden sound of her Padawans voice in Ayessa’s ear was reassuring as all around her chaos broke out. Though neither given by the Jedi Council or chosen by her, she took her role as his master very seriously. His safety while learning the ways of the Jedi was her responsibility, and though he insisted on his capacity to fend for himself, she still couldn’t help but worry. She ducked behind a tree to respond - the Mandos seeming to pay little attention to her as of yet.

“Valek, it is good to hear you still live. Do not activate your comm again, I will find you through the Force. Be prepared to hold off Mandalorian Warriors until I arrive. Remember I would rather see you retreat than die.”

She cut the comm then, resisting the desire to give him a lecture about staying alive. He was a little too quick to reach for his Lightsaber in her opinion, but she had yet to see whether that meant he would fight on when fighting was foolhardy.

Before she could worry about her padawan any more, however, there was an explosion behind her and fragments of wood flew all around her. Several smaller splinters slashed across her face and through her filmy robe, stinging as they drew blood but otherwise not truly harming her. She had been too focused on looking outwards for the other Jedi scattered in the forest to notice the approach of a Mandalorian wearing armour that she could see denoted him as a superior next to the others that had set upon the small group of Jedi.

He evidently did not consider her much of a threat, for if he had he would have been able to kill her with a carefully placed grenade instead of firing a blaster at her hiding place. “Come out and fight me, if you can!” The Mandalorian sneered. Ayessa drew in a deep breath, taking her Lightsaber in hand. This Mandalorian clearly did not consider her a threat, he had probably never seen a Miraluka before, and so she likely had the advantage. Still, she was nervous.

Igniting her Lightsaber with a flick of her thumb, she stepped around the tree - straight into a pair of blaster bolts. Her Lightsaber flicked, quick, concise movements sending the blasts into the ground. The Mandalorian warrior quickly followed through with an overhead strike at her neck using his vibro blade, throwing his blaster aside as he did so. Ayessa’s Lightsaber rose to meet it, her one handed block being pushed back a disturbing amount by the force. The Mando laughed as he swung again, this time at her side. “Is this the best the Jetiise can offer? Crippled weaklings?” The words stung, but not enough to rile Ayessa. She was too focused on his blade. 

She blocked the next strike with two hands, using the Force to augment her strength at the moment of contact, and this time she was not pushed back. The Mando responded slightly slower then, not expecting to be so resolutely rebuffed. With his guard open, Ayessa use the chance to quickly finish the fight with a swift slash across his chest. Her lightsaber contacted, but rather than flinching back and falling as she expected, the Mandalorian stepped into the blow, her fast but weak strike merely scoring his chestplate.

He swung his armoured gauntlet at her, Ayessa only barely leaping back in time to avoid the likely bone breaking blow. She had never seen armour so resilient before. Still, it was no match for the Force. As she blocked another swing from her foes sword, she could focused on examining his armour. It was thick, but it seemed to her that there were many concessions made to enhance mobility, leaving large areas lacking the solid plating that turned her strike so easily.

When the Mandalorian next attacked, she did not block, but leapt aside with Force assisted speed, before proceeding to give him a solid telekinetic nudge towards the closest tree. She wasted no time exploiting the manoeuvre, no sooner had the Mando run head first into the tree than Ayessa had taken her saber in both hands and stabbed with all her might into the thin armour beneath his arm. This time the armour hardly slowed down the brilliant blue blade of her weapon. The Mandalorian warrior fell as she withdrew the weapon, the light of his life force going out.

Her duel over, Ayessa turned to face the remaining foes, Lightsaber up and ready to deflect whatever fire came her way. She felt elated, relishing the victory over the foe that had insulted her so, but guilty for feeling that way. Jedi were not supposed to enjoy battle. They fought only when there was no other way. Indeed, here, there [i]was[/i] no other way. It was kill or be killed. Still, she could decide how she felt about it later, when the blaster bolts stopped flying. Right now she had to focus on the task at hand - surviving the battle.