SithLore

Rhoden stirred slightly and sat up. His vision was blurred but he blinked rapidly and it cleared. He had a pulsing pain in the back of his head but he chose to ignore that for the moment. He surveyed his surroundings carefully, noting the other prisoner--for it was only too clear now he was in a cell--was unconscious as well.

The cell had rusty bars, but a sturdy and new lock. Chains as rusted as the cells hung from various places swinging gently in the breeze, the fact that there was a breeze told Rhoden that he was not only on a planet but that wherever he was on the planet wasn’t sheltered from the environment, at least for the prisoners. Light filtered through dirt streaked windows on the ceiling, highlighting the dust in the air and throwing many shadows through the various pipes and tattered banners hanging or simply thrown around. From what he could see it looked as though the building was makeshift, constructed out of the husk of a crashed ship turned on its side.

He turned his attention now to his cellmate, a woman he noted. His eyebrows lifted in surprise, he knew her--one Jade Rancorfang, he’d not kept up on her work following their initial meeting but her presence made this a specific action against Imperial personnel--or perhaps, he mused, they wanted capable warriors. For, loathe though he was to admit it, Jade was a reasonably capable combatant.

Noticing a small weight in his pocket he pulled out a piece of crumpled paper, “Hello again, Rhoden. I apologize for not being able to speak to you personally but I am not directly affiliated with this particular group. Fortunately I have a contact within their ranks and was able to provide them with relevant data on your location, as well as Ms. Rancorfang. I trust you will find them accommodating. --Markus”

Rhoden stared at the paper after he had finished reading it, finally he crumpled it and hurled it out of the cell cursing inwardly. The damn traitor was proving to be every bit as much a nuisance as he was supposed to be--except he was going after the wrong side. Apparently the man had become increasingly happy with running his own little criminal empire, and was becoming all the more arrogant for it. But Rhoden would hunt him down, and he would kill him. Aside from the professional and personal issue he had with the man Rhoden knew he had to silence him. His lip twitched. Yes, Bareil would die, and he could finally let go of the mission which had upended his life.

Rhoden turned back to Jade, noting that she began to stir now as well. There was a loud creak and bang as a door which seemed to be fashioned out of what once might have been a torpedo tube was thrown open. “Yer awake then? Good.” one of the people who walked in said, Rhoden hazarded a guess at pirates. The one who had spoken was a Weequay, another was a Rodian, and the two others were Human. “Once your friend there’s done squirmin’ yer goin’ out t’ the Arena.” Rhoden raised his eyebrows and tilted his head, “The Arena?” he asked. One of the humans smiled, “Yeah, the Arena. You and your friend there are gonna fight each other, or your gonna die. Either way we get a show.” Rhoden looked once more at the figure of Jade as she sat up and then turned back to the pirates. He wasn’t at all fond of having to fight a fellow Imperial, but if it was a choice between the two of them he would do what he had to. He let a small smile grace his lips, “We will fight, then. I do warn you though: When I escape, I am going to kill each and every one of you, slowly and in ways more painful than even an interrogation droid could calculate.” The Weequay smiled nastily, the Rodian continued to look indifferent, but the two humans shared uncomfortable glances before turning back and returning to arrogant superiority. “Yeah, sure you will.” one of them said. With that they opened the cage and grabbed the now standing Jade, none, it seemed, desired to touch Rhoden so they simply gestured menacingly with their weapons. Rhoden stepped out and followed at a comfortable walk, examining his surroundings. Personally if he had been one of them Jade’s silence would have been more concerning, but then again, if he had been a pirate he would consequently lack a brain to comprehend complex thoughts such as that.

He stepped out into the sunlight behind Jade and was stopped by one of the pirates, Jade continued to be escorted. The Arena, as it was called, was filled with black soil and jagged rocks which jutted out of the ground. On one side of the Arena was a small, clear, stone-bottomed pond which appeared to be rather shallow. From the climate and terrain Rhoden decided that he had just set foot in an artificial area, it appeared the pirates enjoyed their fights enough to set up elaborate scenarios for the contestants. He could no longer see Jade, for the rocks obscured his vision.

A loud metallic bang woke her up. A painful throbbing on the back of her head drowned everything else, flooding the world in red mist and metallic taste. She reached for her trusty bottle of liquor, always waiting for her by the side of her bed. Only to find the most uncaring void. Frowning, she went to grab her hip flask. Someone was going to regret taking away her booze, she decided. As soon as the world decided to stop being a screeching hellscape. When she found out that somehow she didn't wear her usual clothes, a stroke of confusion was added to her pained mind. Did she hook up with someone? Multiple male voices echoed in the huge hall she was in. Or maybe in her head, migraines were weird sometimes.

Jade opened her eyes, and what she saw didn't make her happy at all. A bunch of pirates and a young man engaged on some kind of pissing contest, her belongings nowhere to be seen. When she heard the words "Arena" and "fight" she was sure someone was going to get a lot of pain real soon. But first things first: she needed to know where she was. While one of the thugs forced her to stand up and start walking, she took a deep breath in. A faint note of rust marked the derelict ship as either a recent crashing, a remarcably well conserved one or the proud owner of a plot of desert. The smell of the breeze confirmed at least one of those statements: it was dry, but it didn't catch a lot of dust, so probably some rocky type of desert. Echoes and glimpses were enough to quickstart her mental map of the place. Some quick deduction lead to a general sense of where a couple of things were, including the latrines, the kitchen and the barracks. Hardly a free way out, but it was the start of a tool to get out.

This was certainly going to be an interesting day. That never was a good thing to notice first thing in the morning.

One of the pirates handed Rhoden a small sheath and waited for his comrade to return, with a wicked grin he left slamming the door behind him. Rhoden pulled out the vibroblade he had been handed and examined it. It was sturdy enough to work with, nothing durable enough to last in combat, and the point appeared to be exceptionally dull.

Putting it back in the sheath and attaching the sheath to the rest of his apparel Rhoden set out. By his estimate the Arena appeared to have a two-hundred and fifty meter radius, which was a decent amount of room to work with. He set to work immediately. He wouldn't hesitate to kill Jade and he had little doubt she would do likewise. Rhoden found a sturdy log and chipped at it with his vibroblade, carving a rough and hasty groove. Looking around he found a large stone and fit it into the groove.

Rhoden hurried out and grabbed a bunch of fibrous plants, carefully winding them into crude ropes which he used to tie the stone tightly to the log. He then scooped up some clay and carefully coated the connecting pieces. He gave the makeshift club some swings and determined it to be acceptable, it didn't break when he gave a tree a good swing at any rate. He found a longer stick and carefully attached the vibroblade to it, using some stones to give a fairly poor sharpening to the tip of it.

The work would have to do, he had little to work with in this environment and Jade was a fast and cunning warrior. She would favor ranged weapons, traps, and ambushes. Rhoden doubted she could find anything better in the terms of ranged weapons, but simply throwing stones would serve should she so wish. Rhoden ventured through the small passage between the rocks jutting out through the ground and came to a small area within the rocks. One large rock jutted out and had a small ledge underneath. Guarded from above by the rest of the bulk Rhoden could lurk in the shadows and keep a good lookout for Jade's approach, from most directions anyways.

He began running through battle plans and the like. He had a physical advantage over her, he imagined he could just about match her in speed, perhaps he did, he certainly had her on brute strength little good that would do him in this particular situation. He had experience beyond his seeming years, but once more there was only so much a warrior could learn, and it would be foolish to assume seniority meant superiority.

Of course there also came the issue of whether or not Jade would seek him out. He doubted that their hosts would allow them to lay in wait of each other indefinitely.

"Well Mr. Gazor", the squat Ventooinian crowed, "Quite the match-up wouldn't you say?". "Yessah", Doren commented back in his best outer rim accent, "A Whiteback Commando and a native Dathomiri, it's the fight of the century. I say again, you and yours have quite the little setup goin' here". Vassyl shifted uncomfortably amidst the ragged clothing that comprised his disguise. Using the aged persona of Captain Lerke Gazor, the young officer had spent the past two hour posing as freighter tycoon looking to invest in some arena antics. Normally, Vassyl himself would hesitate before attempting such an infiltration in person. However, upon hearing not one, but two of the Empire's finest had gone missing, he found he had little inhibition from following the trail the unlikely duo had left behind. The Commander's ongoing pirate investigation, while not openly revealing his target's location, had stumbled upon an equally venomous, illegal fighting pit.

Tucked away on the mountainous region of Ventooine's second moon, an undisturbed band of rogues and lowlifes had come together to provide the far end of the galaxy with a taste of black market entertainment. By the estimate of Naval Intelligence, the ring had been profiting for several cycles now, and was known only to the foulest of the foul. It was, in truth, a prime location for such activity, and the exclusivity of its membership kept the secret of its existence well. Doren, for his part, had spent many a confiscated credit just to get in. Further funds were required to achieve VIP access, and at last, an audience was gained with the top brass. For now, Vassy could only watch as his allies were forced to fight tooth and limb. In time, the cavalry would be ready to strike, though in the interim, the Captain himself had to remain complicit in the ruse, and the heinous festival of violence about to unfold. "Hedging your bets on one or the other Captain?", the small man cooed. Sighing from literal and superimposed anxiety, Doren softly answered back, "Hard to say my friend, hard to say...".

Jade blinked slowly, watching the least interesting arena choice since the flat sand pit was discovered. They had to be amateurs to think this design was any good. A quick glance at the basic layout of the arena got her the location of all the installed cameras, the observation deck and Rhoden's most likely starting point.

As she calmly walked through her half of the place, she noted all the lacking points of the design. The guards would hear all of them in detail before the day was over if she had the chance to tell them at all. The sloppery of the job was almost offensive. Obviously it wasn't meant to throw them in without weapons, and the bare stone gorges provided way too many safe hiding spots. Good arenas make you be always on the move, unable to find a secure position to hold. Really, this was one of the worst fighting pits of the galaxy, and she'd been in a lot of them, both as staff and participant. She could only hope the rest of the fields were either better made or better used. Who gives you only a knife in this kinda place? That makes it the worst kind of fight: a boring one .

Sighing, she played a bit with the vibroblade's hilt. Cheaply made, the balance was frankly bad and the edge quite dull. Sharp enough to cut through skin with the power off, though. A quick movement got the power source out of the hilt, and a stab ripped through the waterproof coating. The water seemed cool enough, and her head still hurt, so she headed for the pond.

Quickly undressing, she carefully walked to a stone in the middle of the water and dropped all her belongings on the dry spot. After that, she started to enjoy a nice relaxing bath, caring to be in perfect view of the nearest camera. There was really no point in making their hosts loose patience.

Rhoden waited for some time and decided it was he who would exit first. He walked out and climbed onto one of the rocks which jutted into the air. He looked out and saw Jade bathing nude in the water. He blinked, chuckled, and began laughing. He wondered what their wonderful hosts thought of the display. She was attractive, to be sure, but pending typical interest in such things they had been thrown into this place to fight each other.

He shook his head and climbed down, it was time, he decided, to take a look around for himself. It was a unique situation, he thought, the arena wasn't particularly heavy on resources to be used but perhaps they simply wanted a simple fight. Perhaps, too, they were just too dim-witted to think of something better. There was also the possibility that this was just the introductory arena and that they would graduate from beating each other senseless with stones to something a touch more damaging.

Rhoden poked one of the barrier walls experimentally, and when he didn't die a painful death or get thrown back on his rear end he smiled and looked up. There were some thick transparisteel windows which circled the arena higher up, the domed roof was also transparisteel but likely bore sensors and small camera systems to broadcast and simply monitor the contestants.

Completing his search of the Arena he climbed back onto his rock and looked out once more to see if Jade had remained in the same location.

Doren could hear the popping of bones as the petite Ventooinian racked his knuckle in disdain. Clearly this spa treatment was not the fighting pit's itinerary. Eventually the squat man detected Vassyl's gaze, and with a smile reassured him, "Worry not Captain, we have ways of dealing with unwilling participants". Without another word, the elder gentlemen rapidly activated a set of button commands into an elongated wrist module, and soon a mechanical hum blanketed the interior of the arena. Two dozen ID9 seeker droids descended onto the scene, all bearing a crackling set of built-in shock prods. Furthermore, would that the two gladiators studied the probes more closely, they were certain to notice the stun-net launchers grafted to their metallic undersides. "A lil' active discipline is it?", the Captain resumed in his forced accent, to which his host responded, "Indeed, sometimes we must provide motivation for our entertainers".

As the small enforcers buzzed about in their own mechanical language, a handful made a direct beeline for Rhoden, and several others began to encroach on the water's edge nearest to Jade. The droids spun their electrical mandibles about, and one more sinister model dangled their cruel instrument just above the water's surface. The lead droid then produced a voice, the register of some generic gynoid, that explained, [Please initiate the duel. Failure to do so will result in punishment. Repeated offenses may result in termination]. Soon, all the onyx overseers began chirping to a similar tone, the message replaying over and over in an annoying and cacophonous manner. "A wonder they don't have at it just to shut those things up", mused Doren, extracting a patch of dirt from his ear. Once more, the Captain's diminutive host obliged him with a smile, and cheerily answered back, "Every little bit helps".