Ask Nar Shaddaa Fighting to Survive

[Kyosuke Yamato]

Nar Shaddaa, 154 ABY
​

Hard bumping club music bounced off the walls of the underworld fighting pit, one of many such establishments on Nar Shaddaa. A couple hundred spectators gathered around the decently sized durasteel arena built into the floor.

Tonight's fights had already started several hours ago. One fighter after the next cycled through the arena, with the last person standing at the end of each round forced to stay in it until they'd survived through as many combatants as possible before their bodies lay broken and defeated.



In one of the back rooms connected to the arena, a raven-haired young man was suddenly jolted awake by the smooth black shock collar around his neck. "GHH!!" His upper body shot up from the narrow bed and he groaned through clenched teeth until the electrokinetic energy finally ceased. A familiar energy, one he used to be able to tap into and control, until he had to twist it to deceive that Sith Kel'dor or he would've been killed by the Master.

A rush of memories flashed through his head like snapshots. Ruusan. Kiliks. Being on the edge of death and barely able to flee for his life. Raxus. Yuri. Abandoning her to protect her from himself. Dromund Kaas. Master Sol. A gloomy encounter he could scarce remember.

So where was he know, then? Captured again? By other Sith, or some other group this time? Had he fought Sol and lost? No, surely the Sith Master would've killed him upon learning his apprentice was little more than a ruse of survival. Either way, another gap in memories was never a good sign. He couldn't help but feel a swell of anxiety and distress churning at his core. An uneasy feeling he pushed aside as best he could. Whatever happened, he didn't seem to be much better off now than he had been.

Slanted charcoal eyes swept the tiny chamber he was being kept in. Minimal necessities, and a wide digital sign above the locked metal door with the word, 'REST', which then flickered and switched to, 'READY'. This was an unfamiliar place to the lost soul. He released an annoyed sigh and kicked his feet off the shoddy bed to stand, noting a slight soreness across various parts of his body and the back of his head.

His hands went to the sides of the sink to support his weight as he leaned against it and looked at himself in the mirror. Hawk-like eyes stared back at him. Kyo's, or Nox's, he didn't really know if it even mattered anymore. Then a brow curiously curved upward upon noticing the eyeliner around his eyes, which softly arched away from the outer corners like little wings. "Huh." He let out a dull and intrigued grunt. He didn't know why he was wearing any, but he couldn't deny that it actually looked pretty decent on him.

Then the fingers from his left hand travelled up to the smooth latex-like material of his tall and tight black shock collar. Of course it wasn't the material conducting the shock, but the many electrodes embedded along the inside of it instead. Either way, it was a bit of a nuisance when the wrong people had control of it. He'd hoped to have been freed of it once he escaped from Sol, or once he'd finally managed to get inside the Empire's ranks. Whatever was the case, it seemed something or someone must've interfered before he had the chance to do either and get rid of it, and to make matters worse now there was no sign of the remote to disable and detach the damn thing.

The raven-haired young man let out another annoyed huff, pushed off from the sink, and turned his head towards the door as a long distorted beep came from the sign above it. He shot a glance up to the sign in time to see it switch from 'READY' to 'FIGHT'. Then another similar beep followed, and the door hissed open, revealing a long dark corridor beyond.

"You gotta be kiddin me." He sighed, then felt another sudden overwhelming shock come from his collar, nearly dropping him to his knees. "GH!!! FUCK!!" One of his hands clutched the sheets of the bed he'd caught himself on the corner of, then after a few moments of his muscles seizing, the jolts finally stopped.

"Fine." He partially growled through his teeth as he reluctantly pushed himself back onto his feet. With another irritated sigh he then began to walk towards the door when he noticed the familiar white bird-like mask sitting on a counter next to the exit. He paused, then swept it up and pressed it to the upper half of his face. A gradual calm settled within him as he pushed the center of the cortosis mask up with the tips of his index and middle fingers from his right hand, then once it was secured in place, he turned and left the cell.



Back in the arena, a giant of a man had been utterly destroying the competition. The crowd cheered for the behemoth, who broke one fighter after another and left them scattered across the arena. At one side of the crowd was a booth with the establishment's owner, a stout woman with multiple chins, a scrunchie face, and a twisted grimace.

The last challenger to fight the current champion dropped in defeat after hitting the wall next to one of the many closed doors around the arena. A second later, the nearby door opened, and the raven-haired young man with the black shock collar stepped out. The white cortosis mask that obscured his face caught a glimmer of light from the dim spotlight that swept across him and illuminated the lithe toned figure, who wore only a tight pair of jet-black pants.

Anyone with a view of the new challenger would see the many whip scars across his back, a vibrodagger scar across the right side of his lower torso, and few other smaller ones around his upper body and arms. For the moment he merely stood in place a few paces into the arena, taking in the new scenery before turning his attention to the towering man who gradually approached with a wild look in his eyes.

@Reylo4evr

 

[Silex Tan]

Another fighting pit, and this one was just the same: the blood-thirsty crowd and even more money-hungry owner eagerly watched the fights, brief and brutal as they were. Silex found herself cringing whenever the giant brute of a champion got a nasty hit on whoever his challenger was.

She had isolated herself from everyone else after she had regained the Force. Part of her was afraid of what the Jedi would do to her, and another part was afraid of what the Sith could do to her. She had history with both, and felt that while she was remembering her past that she had done such a thorough job of blocking, she had best stay away from everyone. So here she was, sitting in the crowd of a fighting pit on Nar Shaddaa, thoroughly disappointed in the sentient life that inhabited this galaxy.

Her interest was piqued slightly when the dark-haired fighter came in, a black shock collar flush with his skin, a white mask covering his eyes, and his torso exposed, revealing numerous scars. She involuntarily leaned forward in her seat as he slowly walked forward, then stopped. She switched her attention to the brute, waiting to see what he would do.


@AdventCore

 

[The Storyteller]

Noise filled the pit; people were shouting over the thumping music and the screams of the victims of the giant man who went through the fighters like an angry child went through toys. Sylva Mace sat at her table, an officiator on either side of her. She wore an arrogant, condescending look on her face, her arms crossed over her large bosom. She smiled as she watched her champion defeat all competition. The money in her account was steadily increasing; each head that was bashed was another pile of credits.

The door on one side of the pit opened and a young man with black hair, black pants, and a white mask walked in. This one had been through a lot; the scars on his muscled torso drew attention from the females and some males in the room. He was strangely quiet. Sylva just hoped for a quick brutal fight.

The champion took large steps towards the dark fighter. His bulky torso glistened with sweat and his dull brown hair was stringy with sweat that ran down his forehead. He didn't stop moving towards the smaller man and wasted no time before swinging his massive fist towards Kyo's exposed jaw. Whether he would move to defend himself, the giant brought his other fist back and intended it to collide with Kyo's bare chest. The giant would continue the barrage of his fists on Kyo's body, expecting the new fighter to drop just as quickly as all the others.

@AdventCore @Reylo4evr

 

[Kyosuke Yamato]

The music shifted to a new track and started to build up to a rapid pace as the giant began to clear the distance between him and the masked fighter. The raven-haired fighter gradually shifted his left foot back less than a step and lifted the heel about an inch from the ground while twisting the ankle counterclockwise about 45-degrees back so the toes were perpendicular to his shoulders.

The young man took a measured breath and began to raise his arms with slight angles at the elbows and slightly curled open palms with thumbs kept against the side of the knuckles to keep them from getting snagged during the fight. His focused gaze studied the massive man, and just as he begun to swing with his right arm the masked fighter snapped into action. His left forearm shot forward while maintaining the wedge shaped angle at the elbow, which he slammed the edge of next to the much larger man's right inner elbow and forearm with just enough force and steady strength in his arm to effectively and surprisingly intercept the bulky arm to barely keep it from hitting him.

Without hesitation, the masked fighter struck back with a counterattack at the same moment using his right fist, sending the knuckles towards the giant's throat with more than enough naturally trained accuracy to intently miss the man's larynx and hit the neck next to it instead. The left arm very quickly followed the right, forming and throwing another fist into the same spot, again being careful to not collapse his opponent's throat. The nimble raven-haired fighter then rotated his right arm to vertically align it with his body, then swept it from the center of his chest out to the right to direct the incoming fist away from his chest. He didn't have enough strength to completely stop the attack, but he was able to mitigate most of the damage into a grazing strike along his shoulder.

Flowing like water, the masked fighter then swept his left arm horizontally down and back towards his own chest as he began to shift around to his right with his right foot leading the swift step. At the same time he used the edge of the left forearm to then whip it up to the giant's left wrist and away from him, essentially redirecting it back towards the man's own chest so he could begin to maneuver into a steady orbit around the giant. He'd continue to shift along the man's left flank, rapidly punching an extremely fast flurry of blows towards and along the champion's ribs from the side to the spine until he'd need to counter the giant's next attack.

The lithe contender's extremely rapid counterattacks were exchanged with rapid reflexes and an almost unnatural looking amount of speed that took less than three seconds before he'd begun to orbit the giant's flank. The larger man's muscles were such that even though the raven-haired fighter had been bulking up again back at Sol's stronghold his conditioned fists wouldn't be as damaging to the man's bulky body as he'd hoped. Still, he chose not to tap into the Force for now, using only his natural strength and speed to remain incognito to any who would Sense him otherwise.

@Reylo4evr

 

[Silex Tan]

Silex had expected the smaller fighter to fall as soon as the champion swung the first punch, but he dodged and blocked it with surprising grace and fluidity. He even got in a few of his own counterattacks. The crowd was surprised, but still seemed to think the brute would win.

She supposed no one had put up a fight against the champion for longer than a second, and the unknown fighter was standing here after five. While not long in the grand scheme of things, Silex was still pleasantly surprised, and she found herself rooting for him.

She stood up and made her way to a betting table, placing half the credits she had on her on the man in the mask. The droid taking bets hesitated for a moment, as if processing how to place credits on the other competitors name.

Silex moved to the side so she was amongst the standing crowd closest to the pit, where she could see the fighting up close.

@AdventCore

 

[The Storyteller]

Sylva Mace leaned forward against the table she was sitting at, the cheap metal edge digging into her large stomach. "Kriff..." she muttered, her husky voice softer than usual. The officiators on either side of her glanced at her, and then back at the fight with awe.

It had been a long time since she had seen anybody fight with such grace, it seemed almost foreign to her eyes. After days on end of seeing her champion destroy everyone quite violently and without any sort of grace, she found herself strangely enticed. She sat back in her chair and blinked, suddenly coming back to herself. Everyone had their bets on the brute; the bird man couldn't win. It would cost her more money, no matter the fact that he was much more entertaining to watch. The people bet on the safest win. And right now, that was the brute.

The champion also seemed shocked that his new opponent would fight back and not fall to the ground immediately. He was not a very bright man, and made up for brain with brawn. It was then given that strategy would be nonexistent in his fighting style. He lunged forward once more, reaching out his hands in an attempt to strangle the bird man, in the process leaving his bare torso exposed. If his competitor dodged, he would widen the gap between his arms and lower them slightly to catch him, no matter which way he turned.

@AdventCore