Jedi agreed to play RIP even though he'd only ever seen it before in anarchy. I figured he'd like the level, but perhaps we should have played it for fun, just to check! I was coming off a profoundly INSTRUCTIVE 8-20 loss to Mark392 there earlier in the day.

At 2-2, I knew it was going to be a good game. He got out to a 6-2 lead, but I was able to bring it back. I tied it up at 8-8 and held it. At 10-10, it got serious. "Silent mode", Jedi said, and I nodded and turned my mic off.

We were flying around the level super fast and nonstop, with occasional breaks to set traps, as is typically the style for both of us. RIP is a level that really likes that. In silent mode, the intensity increased, but the style didn't change, and I continued to pull away. Four kills for me, a suicide for Jedi, and the score was 14-10. Wow.

I thought for the first time, "I might win this." I'd never had a lead that big, that late. I resolved not to change what I was doing, to keep playing the very aggressive game I had been. I figured, if he had a way to deal with it, he'd have already shown me. It's not like he didn't know what I was doing. ;)

He took a long break before spawning, and when he came back, he was playing very hard. I had to fight for every shield, and I resolved not to make any mistakes. But he's better at not giving anything away, and slowly he brought it back. 15-13. 17-15.

At 18-17 -- and him with low shields -- he suicided. We agreed afterwards that he would have lost if he hadn't. By the time I got my 19-17, I didn't have a lot of shields to go with it. We were both convinced I was about to win, anyway.

Somehow he managed OT, and then the win. Neither of us is exactly sure how it happened. Maybe I psyched myself out a bit? I've been trying to get this win for so long that when it looked close, my heart started racing and my hands started shaking. Then again, Jedi does play REALLY well under pressure. Hard to say what happened.

I do remember that I had game point THREE TIMES. Particularly memorably, at 21-20, I had already hit him with quads and was wailing on him with vulcan in the back hallway. I remember thinking, "Would you just lay down and DIE already?" No, of course not. :) He made a narrow escape.

It was a heck of a game. Really, truly hard fought on both sides. Wish I had a demo.

...at 10-14 I took a Warlord time out and gathered my thoughts. I wasn't angry. I WAS worried that this was going to be my first ever loss to Drakona. I've been in this position a couple other times with Drakona so I KNEW that this was the now or never moment of the game. I had already declared silent mode so we stopped talking to each other and got deadly serious but it wasn't working. This was the exact moment I needed to turn things around or this game was lost. I needed an epic come from behind in a level that I seemed to have few answers in as to how to counter the awesomeness she was throwing my way.

The speech, though I've had it with myself before, worked one more time! I'm not entirely sure what I did differently although I know that I DID play differently after my Warlord timeout.

I pulled this one out...but I can read the writing that's on the wall. My fall is coming and Drakona will be there to pick me up after she knocks me down.

In a way, I look forward to that moment as I'm sure it will be special to Drakona and in a way...special to me too.

The teacher is proud of the student who may...someday yet, become the teacher.

GG!