If They Break You, What Will You Become?

[Connor Harrison]

Dredge's Arena
Aurum, Wild Space​

It had taken a while, and even the menial bounty hunter’s trying to detain him were useless, but Connor Harrison had finally found [member=Dredge]. It appeared a few easy corruptible navigators in Voss-ka were the eyes and ears for Dredge and his crew which made sense – they knew where to strike and when, and where to find Connor.

They would no longer be an issue. He’d made sure of that himself.

Now, using his old E-wing built for speed and not attack, he had found the coordinates of Aurum in Wild Space. It made sense to be hiding in the darkness where cowards often did, but right now Connor was going to knock down the door and claim back [member="Keira Ticon"] whatever the cost.

His directions, probably traced, would lead him to a large arena built for obvious gladiator games which would provide numerous levels of perverse pleasure for the Sith and his cronies. Standing outside the large building looking up at the flags waving on the top against a dark maroon sky, Connor wasn’t dressed in his armour for a war – he was in his usual navy and crimson tunic and cowl and was here alone.

The Skywalker hilt was fixed to his brown belts and he was ready to use it to free her.

Nobody knew he was here, and nobody would know what went on.

Jaw set tight, eyes scanning the building and then scanning around, he felt sure this had been one big set-up due to the ease of arrival. But right now, it didn’t matter. He just had to get to Dredge and, importantly, free Keira. If she was still alive.

 

[Dredge]

[member="Connor Harrison"]

When Connor had arrived Dib was looking over the unconscious and broken body of [member="Keira Ticon"] as she lay they trapped within a mental prison. He'd given her peace and calm for the time being and it would benefit him later, but for now he had a guest to attend to. Sensing Connor's presence the troubled man lifted his head and looked up at the arena from the grates bellow it. He wasn't wearing his armor, he didn't have his sword, and he only felt sorrow for what had to happen.

So extending his hand out through the force he would find Connor and speak to him through it.

"Before we begin this Connor, I want you to know that I'm sorry. For everything, it was never personal. I need you to understand that no one will see me as anything else than what he was, and for that to maintain order I do what I must. You have come for Keira, but I'm afraid if I win this will both be your grave. But if you can defeat me, you need to kill me or lock me away, I fear that I will never stop until you are dead,
I give you my blessing. Goodbye Connor Harrison." And with that the man looked down and sighed.

Raising both his arms into the air as if he were a martyr on a cross the armor he wore flung to his body and coated him with it. He began to grow as the dark side pumped through his veins and hatred filled his heart. There was nothing more of the man who spoke to Connor now, Dib was gone and there was only Dredge left.

Ascending to the tops of the arena Dredge stood at its center and let loose a huge roar and name augmented by the force.

"CONNOR HARRISON!!! FACE ME!!!"

 

[Connor Harrison]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bfItSe6PTo

There was probably a reason the arena seemed abandoned. If he had been led here, then [member="Dredge"] knew he was coming. So why would he want anyone else around? This was something personal for them both; no frills, no theatricals – just a confrontation of Light and Dark.

Walking up the steps outside the arena the planet around him seemed pleasant enough, and was one of those worlds many wouldn’t think about hiding a Sith. But the fact he hadn’t even heard of the planet until recently spoke volumes. His boots crunched over some loose grit as he walked under a large archway, past some iron gates and through into the main arena. Other routes were blocked, so this had been funnelled for him to follow.

Flags gently flapped above on rope, and the seating area was vacant. Standing at the entrance, the voice came to him. His eyes scanned around as the monologue of a broken and lonely Sith echoed. How poetic. It was clear that only one would walk away from this. If Connor died here today, nobody would ever know the location.

[member="Keira Ticon"] was here. He could feel her, but she was weak. The fact she was alive was enough to keep him grounded. As a tremor rippled around him, the ghastly presence of Dredge rose on the opposite side of the arena and hulked to the centre, calling him out.

Connor stood for a second, one final sweep of the arena, before walking forward in no immediate rush, cowl gently flowing behind him. The ground under his feet was uneven, cracked and full of potholes, bone and dry blood. Now, within feet of the Sith, he stopped.

”Tell me. Do you bleed?” His fist clenched. ”You will.”

 

[Dredge]

[member="Connor Harrison"]

There was silence throughout the arena for once, and this was out of the respect that Dredge had for Connor. He hated his guts beyond everything and almost to the point of vomiting, but he was here alone and he had survived bounty hunters, sith, everything just to stand here with him. And for that, Dredge respected him. He'd still kill him, don't be mistaken, but he would have Connor dead or wounded one way or the other.

"Do you know who did bleed, Connor? The men, the women... the children." he said with a sick smile that dropped down from the cloud of shadows his helmet put forth.

"But most importantly, Keira bled. Oh you should of seen her, should of heard her screams and sobs, they were delectable. Now are we going to stand around or are we going to fight?" Dredge said as he pulled up the large bastard sith sword.

Taking a few steps back and starting to pace around Connor with his sword in upright and ready position, the man let out a low growl and prepared himself for what was going to be a very very epic showdown between the two men.

 

[Connor Harrison]

Little got to Connor anymore. He’d had his time of brooding, of self-blaming, of thinking he was a saviour. He wasn’t. However, by doing things other’s couldn’t, or wouldn’t, he would be heads above others and get the job done. Turning off the empathic nature to strangers was key to saving himself – he couldn’t save thousands at a time. People died daily in hospitals and in war, but Connor could do nothing regardless of how much he cared.

However, to counter that, there was a few cracks. [member="Keira Ticon"] was annoyingly one of them.

Watching the hulking Sith talk about her, and start to pace, with the gentle sound of his blade being drawn as if ready for an execution, Connor didn’t like what he was hearing.

His insides knotted, and felt like they were filling up with liquid metal. He felt heavy, like he wanted to explode. His fists clenched again, at the thought of her being tortured and in pain. She was a warrior, and a mother, and he hadn’t said much to her before she was taken.

”If she’s dead, then you don’t get your prize.” Connor said thought gritted teeth, trying to contain his anger.

He turned to the Sith.

”Let me see her.”

It didn’t come out as a request.

[member="Dredge"]

 

[Dredge]

[member="Connor Harrison"]

Dredge could feel Connor's hatred, his feeling of rage and power of the dark side. Oh yes he could tell Connor had tasted the darkness before, that he had fallen to it before. So that made Dredgd shift a bit, he would play on this and show Connor just what he wanted to see. He'd be shown it all, every little agonizing minute.

"Okay." Dredge said with that sick little grin.

Lifting up his forearm the man pressed a few buttons on his control pad and it would begin to show footage that was taken from the arena upon a large holoscreen above them. Dredge was standing above Keira removing limbs from her body, breaking bones in her remaining leg, arm, and ripping the cybernetic arm from her socket and nearly beating her to death with it as a crowd watching.

"Almost there, just need to fast forward." The man said with a snake oil tone to his voice.

The monitor continued to proceed forward flashing images of Dredge corrupting Saverock, transforming him into a monster and forcing him to kill innocents, images of the people he'd taken from Voss, and those who had died in his sick little game.

"Well this is all old footage, excuse me, I must be scatter brained today. You wanted current footage right?" The man asked Connor.

 

[Connor Harrison]

Connor raised his chin slightly to look up at the large monitor above them, primed for relaying the images in the arena for a baying crowd. There was a moment of silence before [member=Dredge] activated the feed, and then it came into view and his stomach dropped and his skin crawled as if a thousand bugs had erupted from every orifice.

The cheers and goading of the crowd drowned out most of the screams and sounds of bone breaking, but the visuals were enough for Connor to know what was happening - [member="Keira Ticon"] was being mutilated, humiliated and beaten for entertainment.

His vision blurred, and the images of Keira being abused sort of faded as Connor’s eyes started through the monitor into nothing. He was replaying a thousand images in his mind’s eye, and trying to convince himself this wasn’t his fault.

It was.

As the new footage emerged, Connor payed no attention. Saverock wasn’t even a factor in this – nor were the innocents. He didn’t care for them. He cared for Keira, and she was probably locked away in a cell right now.

He didn’t look to Dredge, but just stared up and out through the monitor. Like a ticking time bomb.

"Bring her to me.”

It was a broken voice, breathless, because it took all his effort to even speak to the Sith without impaling his fist through the beast’s face before knowing Keira was alive.

 

[Dredge]

Dredge looked up at the monitor and pressed one last button to turn it off, Connor was at the breaking point and he needed just a few more little pushes to send him off the edge. And hey if he survived this next one, then Dredge would bring the girl to him.

"Done." He said with a snap of his fingers.

"Might be a few minutes, they have to unhook her from everything." Dredge would then look over to Connor and stare at him with his one red eye.

He would enjoy what came next. You see Dredge was a man of his word, when he said he'd exchange Keira for him he meant it, however there was wiggle room. Let's say if he pushed Connor while bringing her out and he just happened to attack and the arena just happened to give way and crush Keira beneath them then he was still within his bond.

"I think the one thing I regret not getting on film was her begging..." Dredge said with a smile beneath his helmet.

"The moment when she broke, when she sobbed and begged me for mercy, and you know what I had her exchange for that? I had her admit to what she really was, you know what that was Connor?"

"A coward."

"A coward that takes the easy way out when things got too hard. But I think you knew that already, I think you always knew." Dredge would then completely face Connor and grip his bastard sword tight for the grand finale.

"But I found some interesting things while I was rooting around in her brain. You tried to kiss her? You love her, something you can never have. It must hurt knowing that she'll never see you like you see her, that she'd rather be with some junkie than you. I've seen her deepest thoughts Connor, and in a way I think I know her better than you ever will." Dredge paused for a moment.

"Would you like to know how little you mean to her?"

[member="Connor Harrison"] [member="Keira Ticon"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

For the first time, he turned to suss out the Sith; hidden behind his mask and armour. He could hear the pleasure in his voice as he presented his little display. Connor had a jaw of iron; tight and firm, as he looked back up to the monitor and the horrid noise it projected around them.

The monitor then went black. Silent. He fought not to say anything, not to give [member="Dredge"] more enjoyment.

Did he love [member="Keira Ticon"] – the one who had been more than a thorn in his side for years? How could Dredge know? Keira didn’t even probably know. Connor didn’t know. He was being played with. He knew what was happening

"You’re a bit late, aren’t you? Don’t you think I know where her heart lies,” he said.

He continued to watch the black monitor. His heart was breaking for the pain she had suffered.

”She’s far too stubborn for a man like me.”

Connor then turned to the Sith and pushed out a smile.

"Anything else you want to throw at me to make big bad Jedi lose his rag? Aw look at YOU in your big scary armour! What a big man you are!” He was calm physically, but his voice was getting louder and the frustration rising. "You fairy.”

He turned away and closed his eyes, swallowing the urge to draw first blood.

 

[Dredge]

"Now that's just in poor taste, sheesh. And I thought I was evil. Homophobe." Dredge said as he looked towards the gate of the arena.

"OKAY GUYS BRING OUT WHATS LEFT OF HER!" He shouted towards his men.

The wooden gates of the arena would unlock and they would part open to bring out a line of rather hungry looking Voxyn that were large snarling beasts known to kill and eat Jedi back in the Yuuzhan Vong war, they snarled at Connor as their masters held them on a leash. They were insurance that everyone remained like three little Eskimos, and what were Eskimos you might ask? Eskimos were chill.

"We fed her leg to the dogs, don't mind them they're sweethearts." The Voxyn would then clear for two large hulking Vong that came out from the shadows of the gateway with a dragging sound behind them.

All they had to do was wait now, wait for Keira to be taken out from the gates and be shown in her broken and beaten state.

[member="Keira Ticon"] (you may post now)
[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Keira Priest]

Everything of the past few days was best described as an unintelligible blur, but even that didn't begin to describe the sensation of semi-existence that had stuck with her since entering the arena. Even the pain had faded into the void, leaving her with a strange feeling of being beyond the physical realm, experiencing everything from a third-person perspective. The psychological prison she had been kept in had endured for what seemed like eternity, when in reality it had only been a handful of days. At the very least it was pleasant and peaceful, and she was able to forget just where and who she was for the duration. That was all she could ask for now, and so her being ripped away from that false reality was less than welcome.

Immediately she was hefted by her remaining arm and drug forward, eliciting a pained cry. Her head lolled on her chest, eyes half-shut, barely registering her surroundings. Only when she and her warden entered the arena did her attention center, and she raised her head to glimpse about herself. A familiar presence touched on her senses, acting as a rush of cold water, reuniting her with her sense of self. A cough rattled forth, and she hissed in pain as it agitated her cracked and broken ribs. Progress halted once they reached a reasonable distance between [member="Dredge"] and [member="Connor Harrison"], and she managed to speak, voice weak and barely audible, "It's about damn time you got here, Harrison."

 

[Connor Harrison]

At the sound of heavy gates opening, all he did was move his eyes to watch what was going to happen, his face still tight and devoid of emotion. Two hulking brutes dragged a mutilated [member="Keira Ticon"] out, limp and broken. Then, his eyes widened.

Walking forward towards her, with each step he saw the wounds and limbs that had been pulled away. After a few steps his pace quickened, and that walk turned into a jog and instantly a sprint towards her, regardless of the two brutes. What were they going to do? Nothing. This was eye candy for [member="Dredge"] .

Skidding to a stop and dropping down to his knees, he cupped his hand behind Keira's neck and held her, placing a hand between her breasts and felt her heart, and fused his aura with hers and as much positive warmth as he could. He didn't want to take in the broken body.

”Serves you right for leaving without me,” he said, but it was hard to quip when she was this close to death. ”I'll only say this once...I'm sorry...I'm so sorry.”

He could hear her wheezing, and how it was hard to swallow and even try to talk. Connor snapped his head to Dredge across the arena and it was then the blood boiled - Jedi or not, this was how to break Connor Harrison.

 

[Dredge]

When Connor glared at Dredge the mad overlord simply did a casual wave back to the man mocking him. He was enjoying the feelings coming from Connor, the hate, the rage, the need to kill and take revenge for what was the utter destruction of his friend. It only made the man smile, but as much fun as this was a deal was indeed a deal and Dredge was a man of his word. So with another snap of his fingers a group of malnourished Republic Clone Troopers exited the gates until they stood by Connor and Keira.

"They will escort Keira off world, you and I however have unfinished business Connor Harrison. And believe me I do intend to finish it, so say your goodbyes to your precious coward and make good of your end, I intend to slay you and ship you back to Voss piece by piece." Dredge said in a voice filled with a cruel humor.

The man would then step closer to Connor gripping his own sword tight dragging it along the ground of the arena letting it's bone blade create a line in the dirt behind him as he walked forward. He was going to enjoy what came next. This was about Korriban and how the two Jedi had humiliated him in front of his men. How they bested him in combat. But that was a weaker Dredge, now he understood the dark side of the force and could unleash it upon Connor.

"I've been waiting too long for this Connor, far too long to end your miserable little existence."

[member="Keira Ticon"] [member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

Connor cradled [member="Keira Ticon"] across his lap and looked over to [member="Dredge"] who was coming closer.

”You take her to Voss. You leave her at the city.”

He gently let her head lie back and stood, seeing a horrid red mist that he hadn’t experienced for years. He had tried to keep personal feelings out of his recent exploits and so far had found ties severed to those he valued, but Keira was still there and never seemed to go far from his heart.

Connor began walking towards the armoured brute, that dastardly looking sword in his grip.

”Coward.”

He kept walking and didn’t break stride as he took his lightsaber hilt and activated it with a sharp snap-hiss, pointing down as the blade cut into the arena floor with a sizzle and a trail of burnt earth and smoke.

Inside, he was raging. Outside, he was near trembling wanting to release it.

”I’m all out of patience.”

With a snarl, he deftly brought his right arm up with the blade for a statement blow – hard and violent towards Dredge’s head as a clear sign he was now going to fight until of them was dead.

 

[Dredge]

With Connor's blade pointed at his head with clear intentions of violence it caused Dredge to smile that he had gotten to the great Connor Harrison. He had killed civilians, children, Jedi, SSC workers, he even killed the people just passing through Voss. But despite all of that, all of his efforts, it didn't cause Connor to break. But this, this one woman that he didn't even have to kill made Connor lose it, and it felt damn good knowing how to play that card now.

"You know Connor, you are quite selfish for a Jedi. How do you sleep at night knowing you could of prevented the deaths of thousands had you just come to me. How can you sleep knowing I fed live children to the hounds while you sat in your temple and did nothing?" Dredge would then take a step back to level his sword up.

"In some ways, you're just as responsible for their deaths as I am. But what bothers me the most is knowing you rushed out here and risked your life for her, not for the children, not for the mothers, not for the innocent. But for a murderer who abandoned her own family twice." Dredge would then keep his grip tightened ready to strike.

"Now that the whole evil villain monologue is over, shall we?"


[member="Keira Ticon"] [member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

The hilt was tight in his palm, the blade humming and ready for action. Connor looked up with dark eyes at [member=Dredge] and didn’t falter.

”Will caring about those people have saved them from the inevitable? No. So that’s why I don’t care. I care for [member="Keira Ticon"] because she was with me when you took her and she has been with me for year, willingly or not. She’s part of me. Those faceless people aren’t part of me or the Sanctum. We aren’t superheroes. We aren’t all good guys. And especially not me.”

Connor brought the blade in his arm, like a batter ready to hit a home-run, and then he swung it towards Dredge for the launch of his attack.

No more words would convey what he felt – only violence would.

 

[Dredge]

Dredge didn't flinch when the sky walker saber came at him, he let it slid across his armor and cut against the gapes in his helmet to let the smell of burnt blood rise into the air as trickles of it poured down his mask dripping from beneath its shroud. All that happened next was one pure red eye looking down at Connor with what could be described as disappointment. Connor had upset the dynamic, he'd protested his uncaring stance for "faceless people" and that just didn't sit with Dredge because even a psychopathic warlord like him knew that they weren't faceless, that everyone was somebody's everything.

"That's just it Connor, it wasn't inevitable. Yes death is indeed so, but theirs at my hands were preventable. But you let them die. They begged for you Connor, they begged and pleaded for you to save them. You were what kept them going, and when you turned your backs to them I fed them to the hounds." Dredge would then pause and look over to his army snapping his fingers over towards them.

The men would push themselves aside in rank and file creating a pathway out of the arena for Connor.

"You're not a Jedi. You're not a savior. You're not even a good person. You're just another freak like me. Evil and morally bankrupt, and you're not even worth killing." Dredge would throw his weapon to the side letting it plant itself into the ground.

"Leave, you're not worth my time." And that was it, Dredge didn't want to kill Connor anymore.

And the reason why was because Connor wasn't the hero he thought he was. He was selfish, he was blind, and if he were to kill Connor it would only be helping the Galaxy.

"You don't deserve that." Dredge said as he turned his back to Connor and started to walk away.

[member="Keira Ticon"] [member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

Hearing the analysis by a butcher such as [member="Dredge"] was nothing but amusing – who was he to lecture Connor on the ethics of what made a man, a Jedi, a noble hero when he knew nothing of the sort.

The lightsaber in his hand hummed gently as Connor stood, and it slowly kissed the sizzling ground it rested on, smoke rising in small curls. Looking only by moving his eyes, the arena itself started to move with the minions making a passageway for Connor to exit from, and even Dredge was giving up, tossing his weapon away.

Seeing the blade in the ground, and the brute giving the lecture, Connor looked back to him and called out.

”I’m glad you see the face of a real Jedi, not one who will cower and plead for the Force to save them! I am everything you ever feared from one who will stand up against you!”

Connor looked back to the blade and held his hand, clenching it and twisting his hand as he lifted the blade as if he were holding it physically, and with a grit of the teeth and cast his hand forward and launched the blade spinning horizontally. If it hit, he hope it would hurt and cut and maim, if not, he didn’t care, because this was something Connor would last until he was standing alone.

[member="Keira Ticon"]