Rachi Sitra VS Kao Cen Darach

BIOGRAPHIES
Kao Cen Darach was a Male Zabrak Master of the Jedi Order during the Years preceding the Great Galactic War in 3681 BBY. A legendary Jedi Knight who later held the title Battle-master, Darach trained a young Padawan named Satele Shan, and both were present on a space station in orbit around the Sith home-world when the Sith Empire, which had been believed destroyed for centuries, launched an Assault to retake the Planet. Darach was ultimately Killed in Battle with the Sith. Because of his sacrifice, Shan was able to escape and warn the Republic of the Sith Empire's return.

Rachi Sitra was A female Twilek Jedi Knight, hailing from the final days of the Republics golden age. Although initially serving the Order as A Jedi archaeologist, with the rise of the Great Jedi purge she became one of the Few Jedi to survive the Empires slaughter, working behind the scenes to subtly undermine the new regime, rather than oppose it openly. Surviving A close encounter with Darth Vader himself, being involved in the hunt for A powerful rouge Nightsister and several other missions, Sitra would not become A legendary Jedi, but she was nonetheless skilled.

MARTIAL ARTS
In several ways, Kao Cen Darach was something like an earlier version of Qui-gon jinn: A well respected sword master, who nonetheless found himself sidelined do to his maverick actions and policy's. Although we do not have that much concrete information on him, it is known that, as it was required achievement to become A Battle-Master, Kao Cen Darach was A Master of all seven Litghsaber forms. As with other Versus series creators, I have come to agree with the theory that Darach's preferred Form was Nimen, the jack of all trades sixth Form. Darach's fighting style embodied much of Nimen's general practices: He was extremely skilled at changing in Force attacks with his blade-work, Mastered dual wielding to the point that he could do so with A Saberstaff, and, most importantly, moderated himself: He wasn't overly offensive, defensive, acrobatic or kinetically strong. Instead, Darach was A varied duelist who was skilled equally in just about any area. As with most Jedi, Darach had zero issues with fighting multiple enemies and deflecting Blaster fire. Darach also proved his worth as A Instructor, training future Grandmaster Satele Shan in the art of combat. The first Jedi to face Sith in over A century, Darach proved skilled enough to hold two Sith lords off at once, even fatally wounding one, before the second warrior, Malgus, killed the exhausted Master. Darach was also very tactically inclined, playing his enemies against each other and making use of whatever he could find, whether it be random objects or weapons, to even the fight if he found himself overwhelmed. One of the most refined Masters of the sword for the age, Darach was NOT to be underestimated.

Although this match up was inspired by Wollf Myth's examination of Rachi Sitra, I must admit to disagreeing with my fellow versus series creator on several points. Although Sitra did use many tactics and moves from almost all seven Lightsaber Forms, I must challenge the notion that she had Mastered all seven forms, as this is something that can easily take decades to do (Something not really likely for the relatively young Sitra), not to mention Sitras status as A archaeologist indicating A greater focus on knowledge then martial power. However, I do concede that it is very likely she had knowledge of, and studied all seven Forms. As for which Forms she primarily preferred, I actually have to go with Wollf Myth's theories. Form four, Ataru, is the most prevalent it's acrobatic fighting moves being very evident in Sitra's style. I believe she backed this up with A helpful practice of Nimen, in keeping with her status in the Jedi Order, and going quite A ways to explain her diverse and jack of all trades fighting style. Although certainly not the most powerful Jedi of her age, and especially not the most well known, Sitra was A force to be reckoned with in her own right. Partaking in battlefield and single combat alike, Sitra proved herself to be A viable warrior several times. Her agile fighting style typified by wide and broad, but precise, strikes, Sitra held her own in almost any situation, although she did not go undefeated, and Sitra never really had the chance to prove her worth against the true greats of her time. Sitra was also very tactically competent, tailoring her fighting style to match her enemy in almost all of her duels, showcasing A surprising amount of ingenuity and diversification, not matched by many.

As you have probably noticed by now, these two are VERY comparable in the area in martial arts. They are both theorized Masters of Nimen and/or Ataru, they are both relatively unknown but skilled warriors and they both rely on A superior tactical standing to take down there enemies. However, they are both gifted with an advantage not shared by the other: For Kao Cen Darach, it is his status as A Battle-Master and confirmed mastery of all Seven Lightsaber combat Forms (As opposed to Sitras theoretical knowledge) and for Rachi Sitra it is here comparatively high combat experience. Unlike the other Jedi of his time, Darach was killed before the start of the Great Galactic War, meaning he missed out on the near constant Lightsaber battles of the war that would have elevated all survivors, even simple Jedi Knights and Sith Warriors, to comparable martial rank as the Council members of Sitra's era. Speaking of Sitra, despite being A relatively low key warrior from A relatively low key era, has engaged and defeated at least four dark Jedi which, although not all that impressive, is still more than Darach's single fight. In the end, trying to establish who would win A purely martial engagement between these two is like trying to determine who would win in A Lightsaber only duel between Revenge of the Sith Anakin and Dark Empire Luke: The two are so comparable on so many levels that any difference you could actually find would be minimal at best. I declare Rachi Sitra and Kao Cen Darach equals in terms of martial arts.

FORCE POWERS
A dedicated Lightsaber duelist and martial artist, Kao Cen Darach nonetheless proved himself to be A reasonably powerful wielder of the Force and supernatural skills. In terms of telekinesis, the most common Force ability, Darach demonstrated enough refinement to save his Apprentice Satele Shan with A thrown weapon, enough magnitude to produce powerful pushes and waves and A good deal of skill at changing in these attacks with his bladework. What's more, Darach also had little trouble lifting large objects and hurling them at his enemies, taking them down before they even get close (Unless that person is Malgus). Although, as A Jedi, Darach had no knowledge of or experience with Sith lightning, he was capable of capably defending against it, even redirecting it back at different targets. Telepathically speaking, Darach had A strong bond with Shan and was something of A budding seer, at least partially sensing the return of the Sith Empire. Although he could augment himself with the Force to superhuman levels of physical skill, this had it's limits.

All though she was certainly talented martially speaking, I believe that Sitra's main focus was on the more supernatural and otherworldly aspects of the Jedi, due to her status as A historian. Although wether or not she was A Consular is unknown, I am inclined to think she is, as A majority of Guardians would be unlikely to chose the path Sitra did. In terms of basic telekinesis, Sitra appeared to be reasonably advanced with at least the more mundane powers such as Force push and wave. She had enough magnitude behind her powers to knock over an AT-PT, although it should be pointed out that it was already damaged. As per her supposed Nimen training, Sitra had zero trouble changing Force attacks into her Lightsaber sequences, using this skill in the battlefield and dueling arena alike. Sitra's Force enhanced speed was enough to blur her Lightsaber blade and cut down several droids at once, while her Force enhanced agility was enough to dodge Wampa attacks and leap great distances. However, Sitra was not A perfect Force wielder: she had no demonstrated skill with telepathy and Darth Vader easily broke through her Force shield.

Just as with there martial skills, Rachi Sitra and Kao Cen Darach match each other tit for tat in terms of there Force powers. They are very comparable in terms of both skill and raw power with there telekinesis, and although Sitra has no demonstrated telepathic abilities, it can be assumed she shared every Jedi's resistance to such powers. Although Sitra did have A defensive Force failure against Vader, I fell comparatively comfortable in saying that Darach is not as powerful in this regard as the Sith lord, especially since he has never demonstrated lethal prowess with it. Although Sitra was A historian and did spend A good deal of time studying ancient records, it is unknown how or even if this affected her practical abilities. Not much to say as, once again, these two are practically identical with there Force powers. No edge will be given.

PHYSICAL SKILLS
Born some point before 3681 BBY, Kao Cen Darach was A roughly middle aged male Zabrak Jedi Master. Remaining in his physical prime, Darach had zero problem in battlefield situations and younger enemy's. Darach was fast enough to keep up with two Sith warriors at once and tough enough to keep up A high octane Lightsaber duel for many minutes, only tiring towards the end. As A Zabrak, Darach would be afforded the physical tributes his species was known for. Unlike Weequay which were naturally much tougher and long lasting then other sentient races, Zabrak's are blessed with A ridiculous amount of mental control, which allowed them to shrug off just about anything short of A direct killing blow. In short, Darach was basically Qui-gon Jinn on an entirely new level, with even more toughness and considerably more skill.

Born during the last days of the Republic and taking part in both the Clone and Galactic civil wars, Rachi Sitra was A young, female, lavender skinned Twi'lek. Being of slim build and in either her physical prime or just before, Sitra was A very agile and fast warrior. Her conduct in battle generaly involved outpacing and weaving in and out of ehr enemies attacks. She has no known particular strength or toughness feats however. As A Twi'lek, her head was adorned with twin brain tails called Lekku. Although this allowed her to communicate with others non-verbally, they were obvious points of weakness and very sensitive. To put it bluntly, Sitra and all Twi'leks have A obvious physical weakness not shared by other species. Although we can assume, like most Kel Dor, she specifically tailored her skills to protect this, it's still worth noting.

Comparing these two physically naturally leads to A comparison between there species: As individuals, there are equally strong and fast, with Darach having slightly more endurance and Sitra having slightly more agility. In effect, they were physically speaking equals (I am sensing A theme here). Although both Zabraks and Twi'leks are, biologically speaking, pretty much standard sentient beings in most areas they do both have an important distinction: For Zabraks, A major advantage in pain tolerance and for Twi'leks A Disadvantage in the form of there Lekku. In short, it is better to be torture proof than to have your weakest physical point as an obvious target. Solely Thanks to his species advantages, Darach gets the edge.

WEAPONS & EQUIPMENT
An experienced and skilled Battle-master, Kao Cen Darach was an advanced duel wielder, using up to three blades at once, as well as instructing Satele Shan in the use of A Saber-staff. That being said, Darach does not carry any secondary weapon beyond his own emerald green bladed weapon. Although her weapons hilt went against the ornate designs common for the Jedi of the time, it was otherwise Un-noteworthy. Even though he was killed before the start of the Galactic war, Darach still preferred to wear battle armor under his traditional cloak. The exact proprieties, or how it affects his strength and speed, is unknown, it is known it can deflect minor Lightsaber blows, but not direct or power attacks.

As previously mentioned, it is unknown if Rachi Sitra is A Jedi Guardian or A Jedi counselor. Not helping matters is the fact that the artwork for the Star Wars: Galixies trading card game constantly shows her with both A green and A blue bladed weapon. Although it is possible that Sitra had multiple weapons, A weapon with A dual phase function or multiple different replacements for lost equipment, it is likely that the artwork is simply inconsistent. With her hilt varying even more than her blade color, Sitra's weapons makeup is also unknown, although I doubt it gave her any serious advantage. Sitra did not posses any other weapons to our knowledge, or any armor or protection beyond her standard Jedi archaeologist robes.

Niether Jedi can truly claim the advantage with there main weapons alone. Instead, the only edge here is Darach's use of battle armor, which at the very least will protect him from minor glancing strikes, like the ones responsible for debilitating Kenobi in Attack of the Clones. Thus, I give Kao Cen Darach the victory in the weapons and equipment category.

THE VERDICT
Two comparatively minor characters, with practically identical but varied skill sets, with the verdict decided by the minor edges? Needless to say, this is one of my personal favorite match ups I have done to date. Fanboying out aside, this battle is going to come down to the slimmest of differences between these two. There martial arts skills are close enough that they might as well be the same person in this regard, with A identical situation existing with there Force powers. Darach pulls slightly ahead physically speaking, although more due to Sitra's species limitations than anything else. Considering that not A single Twi'lek master that we know of has fallen to this inherent weakness however, I think it is safe to assume the physical edge is not as big as I made it out to be earlier (As in, A award isn't given at all). And finally, Darach's armor only really makes A difference if he is pressured by someone like Darth Malgus, which isn't very likely against A more tactically minded equal such as Sitra. In the end, I am SORELY tempted to call it A day and declare this fight A tie. I honestly believe that both of these have A fifty fifty chance of winning. However, that would be A cop out for my viewers so lets go ahead and declare A victor. Now with A gun pointed to my head, Lets decide A victor. Although Sitra has slightly more on screen experience in one on one combat, this supposed edge disappears rather quickly when you remember that Darach is A battle-master, with years of experience under his belt. Whats more, Darach takes full advantage of everything in reach, sort of like A more advanced version of Sokan, whereas Sitra mostly only changes up her own attacks and fighting style. Considering that, even when on neutral ground, Darach has proven himself capable of even manipulating his enemies moves and attack patterns, I would have to say the edge slides to Darach, if ever so slightly. Actually, in hindsight, the better term for these two, both with Force powers and martial arts, is EQUAL, not identical. There is actually A good bit of subtle difference between the two, I just believe that for the most parts, the differences balance out. However, when forced to choose, I would have to say Darach is BARELY the more combat viable. I declare Old Republic Battle Master Kao Cen Darach the victor.