Ask This Is Honor

[Indy Sati]

Chains. Stun cuffs?

She could hear the rattling from far away. The last thing she could remember was the feel of the dusty ruins around them, the remainders of some important artifact...

She could sense more. Other bodies? Where even were they?

They... them...

She lunged back to alertness, golden eyes scanning in the dim gloom. Where didn't matter anymore. There were others here. Her voice hissed out as she padded the dark, looking to touch someone familiar.

"Max, Roland!" she hissed out, her throat a dry rasp. Hopefully they were here too... and could figure a way out.

@Nefieslab @Darasuum

 

[Maxims Tionson]

"Hey Indy."

Max, slumped in the corner, waved a hand that even he couldn't properly see in the dark but oh well. It was the thought that counted right? He had woken up slightly earlier but he had managed to calm himself down after some meditation where he was able to confirm that Indy and Roland were alright. Neither of them had been moving much but the Force assured him that they were alright.

So he focused on the room they found themselves in instead.

It was dark but he could tell there were some lights in the ceiling above through testing with the Force. They were being deliberately kept in the dark and he couldn't help but think it was to keep them unaware of their surroundings but also to keep them from preparing for when their captors would arrive.

If he was them he would have the lights dialed up high and ready to go as soon as they wanted them. The sudden glare would blind him and Indy temporarily for sure. Roland... eh depending on his helmet really. He wasn't sure if their captors really cared about The Way enough to have left the Mando with his helmet.

"Looks like we're in the pokey." he joked lightly, "Either of you annoy any locals recently?"

Might have been him to be fair.

@Killa Ree @Darasuum

 

[Roland Rook]

THEME​

Roland remembered exits locking and gas filling the compartment. His armor's rebreather activated and allowed him to continue to breath into the next few minutes. The Mandalorian stayed concious as his Jedi cohorts dropped. Even if he found an exit there would have been no way for him to get both of them out of there. Their foe had been waiting for them. His body dropped to its knees then his to all fours before thunking into the ground, barely keeping himself from falling further.

Maybe the sleeping gas had intentionally been lighter but introduced in floor vents. The ambushers must have stopped pumping it into the room because Roland could partially feel the thud of foot prints on the ground beside him. Some comment about his armor. Beskar'gam The time his rebreather had given him helped with giving the air time to separate. He felt stun cuffs snap around his wrists. Roland's hands turned into fists and his eyes focused. His helmet was still on.

His vision blurred once again as a pair of hands reached towards him. Both of the Mandalorian's hands reached up, grabbing the relatively delicate digits on one hand with tightening force. Pulled them in a way that told the Lieutenant's sense of touch more than his sight he heard a cry of pain as he continued the pressure.

Something slammed into the back of his head. Letting go of the hand he rolled and tried to get to his feet. The two hands came down, searching for his blaster by feel but it wasn't there. It had been in his hands and dropped on the ground. Once again the Mandalorian's vision came back into focus. His backup was on the small of his back, unable to be reached with his hands stuncuffed, same could be said for his his armor modules.

His eyes looked for Indy and Max but there were other goons coming in and grabbing them. The bound hands of the Lieutenant reached to the other side of his belt and in a reverse grip quickly pulled his vibroblade. A stunbolt hit his left shoulder sending him back a step and dropping back down to a knee. "osik". The buzzing weapon in his hand held at the ready but not moving. His balance teetered slightly but he held fast. The ambushers didn't need to fire another stunbolt. They clearly had the upper hand and knew it. Just as quickly as his vision had been coming back it went away, this time, his grip loosening on the vibroblade as he finally succumbed to the gas.

The following minutes, maybe hours, he felt himself being dragged somewhere. It was dark, even when he opened his eyes he saw nothing. Eventually his senses came back to him. Lucidity and clarity of mind told him he was in someplace dark. But looking around he could still see some of the small lights in his armor's wrist pieces. Shaking his head to clear it, the weight of his helmet was still there. They had left it on? Why?

"That depends...where are we?" He coughed and checked his pouches for what had been left or maybe forgotten. Both of his blasters, concussion grenades, binders, even his ranger badge wasn't on him anymore. "Wait..." His voice dropping to a very serious tone. Reaching up around to his neck he tried searching for his hooded cloak. But his hands found nothing. The faintest hints of a growl came from the Mandalorian. "They took my cloak."

@Killa Ree @Nefieslab

 

[Indy Sati]

She turned her head in first Max's, then Roland's, directions as both voices chimed in, feeling a small, momentary relief. But then memories started filtering back, and she sat back with a soft huff. She couldn't feel the weight of her lightsaber. Nor of her blaster... but they left her blaster vest on? It was so strange... her head felt wooden, stomach still churning slightly as one did when suddenly knocked unconscious.

Pieces of the puzzle were missing. Where were they before? She couldn't remember, not at first. But then Roland's statement made her suck in a breath, then scoot closer. "Your cloak...?" she asked softly, frowning. But then it hit her. He still had his armor on. His helmet. But no cloak. Didn't he have a snake on it before for a clan symbol?

"Concordia," she spoke up softly, brow furrowing. "We were looking for answers... I asked you to come along," she glanced at Max, frowning. "But why? Was it..."

Then it clicked. Jedi expertise. Someone to find more answers about the past, his experience in Sundari. The ruins were supposed to be a clue back to Koil Solus, a rumor of information stored there.

So who ambushed them? Golden eyes panned around, but as vision adjusted it didn't offer much in the way of answers. But there was a sound. Something outside... a snarl, somehow? But just as she started moving there was a groan of stone. One of the doors began to lift, slowly...

And with it, came a bright light. She scooted back, sucking in a breath.

Was that... voices ahead?

@Nefieslab @Darasuum

 

[Maxims Tionson]

It depending where they were to if Roland had annoyed the locals? That... made far too much sense actually. Both the Jedi and the Mandos (and rangers too) had certain planets where things would not look good for them. For Max, he was really hoping they weren't on Zygerria because the locals there really took issue with him for all the anti-slavery stuff he'd done in the past. He blinked a few times as Roland confirmed that they'd taken his cloak.

"Your cloak... but not your helmet?" he asked, mainly for confirmation since Roland's voice still sounded suitably muffled for a Mandalorian, "That's surprisingly considerate of your social rules."

It really wasn't going to be out of a respect for the Mando culture, he was sure. But more likely so that people could tell that he was a Mando rather than a regular ranger - the helmet was fairly distinctive after all.

The stone grating against stone and the thunderous sound of people gave it away.

"... you keep your helmet so the crowd know you're a Mando. We keep our robes so they know we're Jedi." he reasoned with a sigh as he closed his eye against the bright light and started to move toward it, "There's a crowd waiting for us as well..."

He grimaced.

"Arena shows are so old fashioned..."

@Darasuum @Killa Ree

 

[Roland Rook]

Roland remained quiet for a moment as he thought about the circumstances of their imprisonment. He wasn't sure why they had taken his cloak or if it didn't mean anything at all. The fact that they hadn't taken his helmet also troubled him a little. "hm...maybe." He replied to the Master's guess. Maybe they had still seen his face but left him the armor for entertainment purposes.

Finding the corners of the dark chamber was on the Mandalorian's to-do list but someone approaching made him stop and face the noise of the door. If they were going to be fighting then they he wondered who it was that was orchestrating this. Gladiator fights were in the outer rim, mostly in hutt space. Then again, maybe they had been knocked out and transported. "Oh...they can get pretty...innovative." He had known and experienced first hand a gladiator fight or two in his days as a member of the bounty hunting guild. It felt like a life time ago but he knew that things could be bad or they could be worse depending on when the other shoe dropped.

@Killa Ree @Nefieslab

 

[Indy Sati]

The door continued to rumble upwards. At the same time, the other wall opposite began to push forward, forcing the combatants to move nowhere but out. And outside was relatively cool... and yet there was nothing but sand. The light was bright, and she flinched back, a hand over her brow to shield them. Yelling could be heard, cheers, and as her vision adjusted, she saw it.

An arena, filled with beings of all races. An emptiness that yawned before all of them... and yet as her vision adjusted, she noticed other entrances, similar to the one she had just stumbled free from. But dead ahead, there was a pavilion that stood above them. And as she squinted... she found her jaw dropping in shock.

A T-visor stared back down at the trio, in red armor. They sat upon a stone chair, one hand on an armrest, the other curled in a fist in their lap. And though she wasn't an empath, she could have sworn they were gazing at her in keen interest, and then further within for the others.

In their lap was Roland's cloak.

The Fanned Rawl. But there was a symbol on their shoulder, one she had studied on their flight to Concordia. "Solus," she whispered, jaw gritting in confusion. What in the hells was this?

@Nefieslab @Darasuum

 

[Maxims Tionson]

Max hadn't ever actually been in an arena fight himself - he'd seen a few and he and Indy had fought some Trandos but he didn't count that as a valid experience. That had been a debate with punching and stabbing involved, naturally, because that was what got Trandos actually interested in whatever you were saying. He sighed a little bit and started to stretch out his arms. They knew that things were going to get violent so why waste time?

Best to limber up.

Walking out into the harsh sunlight, Max blinked a few times until his eyesight had properly adjusted to the glare and the light. Of course stepping out onto the sands meant that he was actually visible and that meant there was a wall of noise from those in the arena. He wasn't sure if it was largely positive or largely negative or if it mattered at all but he was aware of how it hit almost like a physical force.

With his eyesight as good as it was going to get, he turned around in a circle, taking in the rest of the arena floor they were stood on and the raised areas around them. The sand was loose and irritating - it would make for both an issue and an advantage depending on what they were facing. Eyeing the arena, he raised an eyebrow as he caught sight of something shining in the sand.

Picking it up, he smirked ever so slightly as he pulled it up enough for the sand to slide off to reveal his prize. He twirled the spear in his hand, getting a feel for it's weight to the roar of the crowd. It was a strong, sturdy, metal that was still somewhat lightweight. He wasn't sure what metal it was made from but it could probably take a few hits.

@Killa Ree @Darasuum

 

[Roland Rook]

The Mandalorian walked out, following after the two Jedi. His visor began to tilt upwards and pan around the arena and the surrounding stands. Both of his hands were still bound and it made for checking his other armor capabilities. As if with a thought, they remotely seemed to deactivate and open. His head turned to look at the beskar clad warriors in the stands.

Pulling his wrists free, he dropped them on the ground and immediatly checked fuel levels. Just as he feared, his jetboots didn't have any fuel. He had one blast loaded in his repulsor still. his rebreather was still used up from before. Roland's magnetic boots still showed as working and so did his vision modes. But that was about it.

Looking around, his helmet focused on what he assumed was the leader or maybe main guest of this event. The roar of a crowd made yelling impossible at first. Maxims prepared himself for a fight but Roland didn't blame him. That's exactly what this was. His helmet remained centered on those that were armored.

@Killa Ree @Nefieslab

 

[Indy Sati]

The cheering was almost deafening; amongst the beskar-clad warriors were those without armor or helmets, but her attention was arrested by the Solus in the pavilion. They seemed to gaze at the three companions with a measure of silence... and then waved a hand.

Indyana turned to a strange sound to her left. Another door was beginning to open, and she could see movement. At first, she felt a bout of uncertainty; she didn't want to face against sentient beings, if death was the name of the game. It wasn't the Jedi way.

When the three figures lashed out from the darkness however, she tensed in surprise, then immediately bent her knees, braced for their opponents.

Three Nexu burst out, snarling and screeching angrily at the noise, the bright light. From behind, she could hear a faint buzzing hum as one of the ones that must have managed the animals prodded it out, then retreated behind a closed door.

Three heads swiveled at the newcomers, and she knew they were veterans to this combat. The sound of the crowd died off as she focused on the one closest to her. She saw its' head slowly turn, freakishly large mouth opening to reveal rows of sharp teeth... and then it let out a scream, grabbing the attention of the other two.

They began to charge the group, the first one sprinting straight for Indy, and the other two fanning out to her companions.

@Nefieslab @Darasuum

Spoiler: Dice Monsters

Time for shenanigans!

 

[Maxims Tionson]

Spear in hand, Max felt slightly better about his chances of making it out of the arena without having to do anything too drastic. Sometimes he thought that fighting was too drastic but when it came to Mandos? Fighting was basically like saying ‘hello’ when they were in that kind of mood. That they had captured them to do the fighting for them was what was most interesting to him. After all, combat was honorable to the Mandalorians so why were they the ones doing it?

The doors were opened and suddenly the underlying threat he was sensing through the Force was realized as Nexu prowled out of the gate, obviously having been provoked until they were hissing for blood. Max looked at the Nexu for a moment with a small frown before he made the conscious decision to play it up for the crowd.

“Don’t die, kids.”

With that simplistic warning out of the way, Max drew the Force into himself as he counter-charged the Nexu that had taken a run at him. As they neared, he rolled to the right at the last possible second, sending the Nexu sprawling from it’s over-committed charge and him popping back to his feet with a flourish that drew a cheer.

Spinning back round to face the Nexu again, he twirled the spear between his two hands in front of him, distracting the Nexu with the exotic feathers that were tied to the base of the spear. Usually they were to distract sentients but against an over-grown cat? It was like he was leading the creature along by it’s nose, moving the spear out of the way quickly, erratically, to keep it’s attention until it made another over-committed charge and the spear moved – but the wall behind it didn’t and the Nexu slammed into the wall face first, whimpering but alive as it rolled back to it’s feet.

In the last swipe it had managed to pull the feathers from the end of his spear so Max just shrugged and braced himself for the next series of, more serious, exchanges.

@Killa Ree @Darasuum

 

[Roland Rook]

Roland's helmet turned to look at his companions. He knew he was being watched. It was hard not to be when he they were in the arena. But the Mandalorian felt like his Jedi cohorts might be the ones in real danger and draw the ire of their captors.

The Mandalorian knew that odds were not in their favor. Acknowledging their situation, his fists tightened and Roland made sure his back was to Indyana and Maxims. But looking over his shoulder he saw what had drawn the Pantoran's attention. Leaping from the darknesss came a trio of the feline beasts.

One charged for Indyana while the other slunk around to the side to get behind the Jedi and attack Roland. Facing fully towards the advancing threat, Roland leveled his arm at the one in front of Indyana. "Indy, move!" He shouted and would activate the repulsor if the Jedi made it out of the way. At least that would disorient and give them some room.

Maxims had his own Nexu to deal with and shouted something over the din of the arean. The eager nexu was fully focused on the eyepatch Jedi for the time being. The slinking Nexu, with a slightly smaller and darker colored coat had quickly made its way, clockwise around the arena. "Stick together...Max!"

@Killa Ree @Nefieslab

 

[Indy Sati]

She barely had time to duck when Roland suddenly shouted, and she jumped. The Nexu that had leaped for her screamed when it was suddenly slammed back by the repulsor, however it was close enough that with the blast one clawed paw lashed out where her head was, the tail whipping hard and across her side as it flew back.

She hissed in pain and rolled over then back onto her feet, hands empty. She scowled at the one that slunk around Roland, baring its' freakishly large mouth in a hiss as the other one staggered back to its' feet. "Got it. Don't leave your back open, keep close to me," she shouted back, gritting her jaw.

Once again, another would strike, this time the smaller one for Roland, while the one that was struck by the repulsor blast staggered back to its' feet, blood dripping from its' maw from the concussive force.

She was prepared. The Force pooled in one hand as she bent her knees, golden eyes narrowed. "Come on, I dare you."

@Nefieslab @Darasuum

 

[Maxims Tionson]

The Mando had a point.

Even over the din of the crowd, Max managed to get the gist of what Roland had called out to him. Regrouping would make them less of a target individually and keep their defenses up. It would also, he hoped, get the Nexu all riled up against each other. Cats were usually solitary predators and he vaguely recalled that the Nexu were of a similar mind.

Backing up towards the group, he kept his balance and kept heading in the right direction through the Force, even though he didn't take his eyes off of the Nexu that had targeted him before. It was through that same sense of the Force that he was able to tell that another Nexu, the slinking one, had decided that he was isolated and not paying attention to it.

It pounced from somewhere to his right and rear.

If it had landed it likely would have crushed some of his bones from the force and weight of the pounce alone but Max had been paying attention - just not with his eyes. Using the Force, he jumped backward at the same time the Nexu pounced forward, sailing through the air to avoid the creature as it instead landed right in front of the Nexu that had been hunting him.

The two Nexu exchanged rapid swipes at each other, leaving the other bloody, before they broke apart to focus back on the sentients... who were now grouped up again.

"What weapons we got other than my spear?"

Spoiler: Dice

Old Man regroups well

@Killa Ree @Darasuum

 

[Roland Rook]

Roland's empty hands flexed into fists and opened in anticipation. One of the Nexu came in close to swipe at the others. The Mandalorian saw his chance and leapt forward and delivered a swift kick to the large feline head. The boot met soft eye tissue easily enough since the creature had four eyes total.

Roland reached out with both hands and grabbed the barbed quills on the back of the creature. Its own body weight, staggering from the kick was still trying to back away from what had done it harm. The booted feet dug into the sandy ground as the muscled strength of the cat pulled the man further away from his companions.

The quill eventually gave before the Mandalorian's grip did, making the nexu screech again but leaving the Mandalorian with a three foot long quill. "..uh..." was all Roland managed to respond to Max. Holding the barbed weapon out between him and the closest animal.

@Killa Ree @Nefieslab success

 

[Indy Sati]

She grinned over at Max, violet brows waggling playfully. "One is never unarmed with the Force," she quipped back with a hint of humor touching her lips, however at the scream she whipped her head towards Roland. Seeing him rip a barb free she winced at the creature's pain, but that was all.

"Nicely done!" she replied shortly, but they weren't out of the game just yet apparently.

One of them slunk back, limping away from the fight. A slit opened in one of the walls and a stun baton lashed out, buzzing the creature in the side. It snarled and lashed out, only to earn another shock. Wheeling around, it charged headlong for Max instead, another visible object of its' torments, as the one closest to him instead sprinted away, lunging for Indy. The one who was kicked by Roland barreled straight for him, large jaws snapping as claws fully extended, intending to tackle its' prey for a large bite.

@Nefieslab @Darasuum

 

[Maxims Tionson]

Well she was being cheeky but he really couldn't say that she was wrong so he wasn't about to try and pull her up on it - especially during the current situation. Instead he just focused back on their surroundings, wincing as Roland managed to damage the cat he was fighting with in a way he honestly hadn't expected.

"Beats being unarmed I guess."

Of course that was about the time that things went a bit wrong.

The Nexu was forced into charging at him and Max sighed a little bit as he prepared himself. Bracing the spear against the ground, he took a deep breath and readied himself for the charge of the beast, angling the tip of the spear to be just in line with the cat's throat. He didn't want to cause the creature undue harm but he was going to need to kill it if he and his allies were to get the hell out of there.

As the Nexu was approaching the Force screamed at him and he looked down, seeing the spear break in two seemingly for no good reason. It was only then he saw that it had been booby-trapped to break in half. He stared at it for a second before cursing as the Nexu rammed into him, the hasty Force reinforcement being the only reason his ribcage wasn't caved in as he and the beast skidded a fair distance away from the group.

Max growled in pain as the Nexu's claws worked against the reinforcement to pierce his body armour in the chest region, digging into the flesh underneath even as he furiously dodged his head left and right to avoid it's snapping jaws.

Spoiler: Dice

It went poorly

@Killa Ree @Darasuum