Private The Champions of Thracior

[Kestrel Dray]

T H R A C I O R
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The dry and barren world of Thracior, right on the edge of the Galactic Core, was not a place often visited by off worlders. The two native human tribes were somewhat adverse to outsiders; both to each others clans, and to those not from their home world. It was an important day, when one of the leaders of the Tantt tribe called on the Jedi for help in settling a dispute. Their only requirements? Only one could be sent to resolve the matter, and that one could not be someone greatly trained in the Jedi arts - no Masters. For fear of Jedi wiles being used against them. Needing a distraction from other recent events, Kestrel volunteered herself. When she arrived, though... well, nothing was quiet going the way she thought it would.

"What?"

Kestrel blinked, looking incredulous of what the woman speaking to her had just said.

"You heard me. We already settled the dispute, we don't need you anymore. You took too long to get here."

"I'd like to speak with Iola herself," she said, somewhat forcefully. "Where is the Chieftan of the Tantt?"

The woman stepped back, pushing the tip of her pike just against Kestrel's rib cage. Her hands rose above her head. This was just her kind of luck, dead before she even got to the heart of the matter. Some Jedi she was.

"Did you not hear me? We don't need anymore of your kind here! Get out of here before I run you thr-"

"What is the meaning of this!?" Roared a frantic stranger, "I came here to meet the Jedi and here you are, threatening them! What part of 'wait for me' did you not understand?!"

Kestrel began lowering her arms, feeling her blood pressure go down with them. "You must be Iola!" she gave a smug smile to the woman who'd just pushed a spear into her ribs.

"Don't be ridiculous. I'm Gera, representative for Iola. She apologizes for being unable to come and meet you herself, her hands are tied with seeing to the arrangements of our...meeting...with the Hnsi tribe. From the look of things, it's a good thing I came when I did. No doubt Veralyn would have gotten rid of you, some of us prefer the traditional methods of settling disputes. Now, follow me and I will take you to the meeting room."

Kestrel followed along to the large chamber room where a circular planning table sat in the middle, scattered with a plethora of half-assed 'plans of action'. They were painfully and obviously fake, meant to try and deceive her. For now, she'd play along and see where this was leading, but her senses told her to be cautionary.

"The Jedi is here," Gera introduced, following a sweeping motion of her hand as she bowed out.

"Perfect!" Cried the woman bedecked in red war paint, with mousy brown braids that reached her ankles, swathed in pieced together tribal cloth. "The Deliberation can start today, the Hnsi tribe chose their champion two days ago, now you are here with us to participate in the pitt. This is just perfect."

"Wait, what is the pitt?" she did not answer and circled Kestrel, looking her over like she was appraising a bantha at market. "You are lithe and agile, a perfect fit for the Deliberation. Yes, yes. You will be our champion!"

"What is the deliberation? What is a champion?"

"The Deliberation is a battle to the death! You are here to determine if our Princess, accused of seducing the Prince of the Hnsi tribe, is guilt of breaking tribal law. If you win, she goes free. If you die, then so does she. In the past we settled this through battle, or simply killed the family that intermingled with the Hnsi. But it becomes more complicated when future leaders are standing accused. This is where you come in, Jedi."

"What, I'm not going to be-" Two meaty hands grabbed her on either side, and before she could get the rest of her words out, she was flung through a large metal door where she landed face first in the sandy floor of a giant coliseum. On a podium above, flanked on either side by the two tribal leaders, Iola stepped forward. "LET THE GREAT DELIBERATION BEGIN!" The crowd roard as two images flashed onto a large screen of the two contenders below.

"Son of a bantha..."

Arekk

 

[Arekk]

Thracior, The Core Worlds
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When you have spent as much time playing tag with nebulas and space storms you tend to feel relatively overconfident of your skills and this occasion was no exception for Arekk, tasked with smuggling almost a ton of rare metal safely enclosed inside a camtono. The client that hired the former Jedi Knight and now free-trader did not provide him with specific details about the delivery except that it had to be somewhere in the Core Worlds on a planet that was barren of any entertainment to pass the time.

The Ebon Hawk drifted through space while the captain of the ship made sure every single piece of the legendary vessel was up and running in an optimal manner prior to landing at the designated location, it isn't so easy to mantain a milennia old ship let alone taking up the seat where once the great Revan once sat thousands of years ago during the Old Republic era.

"Beep-boop, ba-beep!" The astromech said to his master, alerting him of an inminent danger as two fighters tailed the ship. "Bwaaaaap!"

In a heartbeak Arekk dropped what he was doing and ran with incredible speed to the cockpit, flicking buttons up and right to activate the shields and prepare for evasive maneuvers. The ship could whitstand a fight or two with the newly installed modifications but its age showed evidently so it wouldn't be an easy fight.

"Brace for impact, T7. There's no time to make a safe landing!" Arekk's echoed through the intercom as he buckled up on his seat, preparing the ship to land at full-force. "Here we gooo!"

Both fighters opened fire on the Ebon Hawk as it dashed in a desperate attempt to deflect the lasers and to lose the ships at its tail though with little success. One of the lasers managed to hit a vital part of the ship which caused it to shut all of the controls down and unfortunately causing the Ebon Hawk to crash in the outskirts of Thracior.

"A-ny... any survivors?" The man asked while a broken cable sparked uncontrollably and the lights flickered, the alarm roaring until it was shutdown by an unknown individual. "Whatever it is... You are getting nothing."

Those were the last words the former Jedi could utter before he was knocked out cold with the end of a Vibroblade right in the face, falling unconscious and unceremoniously captured shortly afterwards. Their captors led Arekk to what seemed to be an arena of sorts near the crash site and leaving him behind the metallic gates of what would become his prison for the next six months.

Some time later...

"What do you mean I'm not staying in my cell today? What's so funny about it, you feth-face?" He growled at Kavir, the Nikto imprisoned in the cell next to Arekk's.

In Nikto language: "I heard you're going to the pit today, boy. Hnsi people are having issues finding a champion.. So they investigated you. Champion of the Kajidii, huh?"

The title of Champion under the Hutt's reign was the most precious and valuable thing one could get in the underworld. Once one of the most feared men in The Smuggler's Moon, Arekk built a criminal enterprise so ambitious that even the Hutts themselves began to fear him.

Champion of the Kajidii, founder of The Hawk's Circle. No more.

"I do not bear such title anymore."

The Nikto cackled while darting his black-void-of-any-life-will-kill-you-now eyes on the man. "Oh no, my dear boy. You are wrong."

A small pause followed.

"Very wrong."

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Kestrel Dray​

 

[Kestrel Dray]

T H R A C I O R
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She struggled to her feet, brushing off the dust from her pants and turned to face Iola. "You cannot expect me to do this! I am a Jedi! I will not fight or kill whoever this other 'champion' may be! Surely there is some other sort of resolution that involves peace! Can we not come to an agreement without the shedding of blood?!"

Jeers and boos hissed from the crowd at the mere idea there would be no fight to the death. Iola's hand raised, and the people were quickly silenced by the guards waving shock pikes around in warning.

"And I say again, there is no other way. Fight, Champion of Tannt, fight...or you will see what we hold in reserve to take care of this battle for us in a less pleasant way."

The metal door at the other end of the coliseum began to rattle as it opened outward and she watched as a man was pushed into the arena with the same brusque treatment she was given.

Giving up on trying to reason with the chief of the Tannt tribe, she breathed out steadily and walked calmly to the middle of the arena where two vibro blades lay waiting in the dirt.

There was no telling the kind of man the Hnsi had chosen for their champion, but he didn't look like the kindly type. Her hand reached out and called the blade to her, hitting her palm. It was not her lightsaber, but right now it would do... she needed to survive so she could find a way out of the current mess she found herself in.

Think, Kes...think! You're a Jedi...there's gotta be a way out of all of this!

Arekk

 

[Arekk]

Thracior, The Core Worlds
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Pushed around by two oversized menacing looking guards and thrown onto the fighting pit, Arekk began to prepare mentally for what was to come by assessing the dangers sorrounding the arena. Just two vibroblades for two champions which meant that only one of them would be left standing.

"You think I haven't been involved in deep chit like this before?" The fallen Jedi said in jest to one of the guards right before the gates closed behind him. "Guess it's time to do it again."

When Arekk laid eyes on his opponent he could not believe that such person could be called a champion let alone hold themselves in battle. Kestrel looked rather fragile, frail and easily able to break her own nails while holding a vibrosword. The girl's pink skin was a giveaway of her origins; Zeltron. Respected fighters in their own and quite manipulative with the weak minded to obtain what they want, he knew that appearances could be deceiving.

His own cybernetic hand reached out for the remaining vibroblade laying in the dirt, hitting his own palm, to eventually assume an offensive stance while his eyes read her body language very closely to figure out Kestrel's next move. Years of training would be put to the test once again and his confidence to win the battle was big.

"Fight to death it is."

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Kestrel Dray​

 

[Kestrel Dray]

T H R A C I O R
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Dray could see in her opponents eyes as he marched towards her that he had every confidence in winning this battle, but while he could call the vibroblade to his hand, she could hardly feel a Force presence from him, a possible weakness she could exploit to level the playing field until she could put the plan in motion.

...As soon as she had one. She was still figuring that part out, charging forward with purpose, yet keeping in the back of her mind to not make any assumptions about the other champion until they confronted each other in the middle of the arena. Readying her blade, seemingly prepared to defend her position, her free left hand shot out in a quick motion instead, concentrating the Force and pushing it out through her finger tips - sending a shove of pure energy towards his core, hoping to knock him off balance and keep him from getting close enough to do any real damage.

She said she wouldn't fight to the death, and she meant that, but she would at least feign her part.

"We don't have to do this," she yelled over the roaring cheers of the crowd, excited that the battle had begun. "If we work together, we can figure out a solution where neither of us dies!" Perhaps he would be more reasonable than the two tribes wanting them to kill each other. At least, that's what she hoped...

Arekk

 

[Arekk]

Thracior, The Core Worlds
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"I have heard that one before." He said as the Force push rippled through the air in his particular direction and successfully blocking her attempt to sweep him off his feet with a quick dash. "Look around you. Even if you managed to escape the arena they would kill us in a heartbeat before we can say something."

The gift he had been given at birth had weakened over the course of the rough years Arekk had lived, many experiences had led him to a point past no return where cutting himself off entirely from it was the only alternative. Diminished reflexes, lower reaction time, an overall less focus on the Force and more on his survival instinct combined with years of combat experience managed to give him the upper hand in what one would consider a huge blow to his set of skills. Kestrel spoke like the hypocrite Jedi he had once served under, playing keepers of the peace but doing the complete opposite of what the Order stood for.

Years after parting ways with the Jedi Order due to the war against the One Sith and the subsequent destruction of the Jedi Temple on Yutan, Arekk was forced to seek a different path... One that involved crime and vices that you really couldn't escape so easily. The murder of his lover and the kidnapping of their adoptive daughter tilted him into becoming the very thing he swore to destroy.

All that power, the rage that had accumulated remained within him. The question was... Would he be able to recover from that and make the necessary changes to lead himself back to the righteous path?

"You say stop fighting. I say you're trying to trick me." The man uttered before rushing towards Kestrel's right side while kicking up dust her way to blind her temporarily and then dashing his vibroblade towards her torso with the hopes of doing something. "For now... We fight."

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Kestrel Dray ​

 

[Kestrel Dray]

T H R A C I O R
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That had gone over well.

Either everyone here was crazy, or she desperately needed to re-work her negotiation skills, if she got out of this. Either way, the man before her was on a march towards death with a raging current of unhinged emotion. He really wasn’t going to leave her with any other choice but to fight or die, and she had no intention of dying today.

In the split second of time she had before his advance, Kestrel took a quick glance around the arena. Three gates. The one she came out of, the one he had come from...and one more. Could that be a way to freedom?

With no more delay as he rushed towards her, she acted against his relentless pursuit. The dust he kicked pinged off a protective barrier, falling shortly after so she could meet him blade to blade, pushing with all that she had to break down his defenses in a parrying of strikes until they were locked.

“You’re right,” she heaved, feeling the heat of the vibro sword against her face. “You have no reason to trust me, and I have no reason to trust you! But we are each other's best chance at surviving this!”

Arekk

 

[Arekk]

Thracior, The Core Worlds
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"I hate being in this backwater planet as much as you do." He replied almost instantly while their blades clashed and they finally met face-to-face, pushing his own weight against hers. "If what you speak is true then I want to hear your plan."

The blades continued to clash back and forth as they put up quite the show for the roaring crowd and the families overseeing who'd meet their fate first, though Arekk's eyes had moved away from the Zeltron girl and instead laid on possible escape routes he could take to finally leave Thracior once and for all.

All of their options were covered by brute guards in each gate armed with vibroblades and blasters, making a run for it would only lead them to meet their ends rather quickly. Perhaps they could Force push their way out of there? They had to come up with an idea quickly if they wanted to survive, killing each other had started to look like an awful idea until Kestrel started talking. She didn't seem the murderous type and the fallen Jedi knew how to recognize the kind of people who enjoy doing that for a living.

"But you gotta hurry, no idea how long we can keep up with this charade. The tribespeople isn't dumb." Arekk dropped his vibroblade away and instead assumed a more defensive stance though this time with his fists. "Bring it on."

Whatever the plan was it was better that it happened quickly for their sake...

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Kestrel Dray​

 

[Kestrel Dray]

T H R A C I O R
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Her features broke into a smile; it seemed that her persistence had paid off, Arekk telling her exactly what she wanted to hear. "Follow my lead." she whispered, breaking blades.

Taking an offensive stance, Kestrel made a show with the vibroblade in her palm. By all appearances to onlookers, it seemed like certain death for the man who threw up his fists. Some in the crowd booed, others were confused, but more cheered the prospect of blood shed.

"The Hnsi Champion wishes to surrender!"

"He has courage!"

"It is a trick! The Tantt Champion is finished!"

The vibroblade hummed with movement, pointing it straight at him. "Prepare yourself!" and with clear intention she ran at her 'opponent', fast as lighting and sure footed, making sure to stay in time with the forward momentum. As she came close to reaching him, her feet pushed off the ground and her body curled in, flipping over his head and continuing in her dash towards the third gate.

It took a moment for the confusion to settle over what just happened, and when that peeled away, the leaders spoke out.

"Do our Champions take us for fools?!"

No guards rushed in with their pikes to try and stop their storm on the third gate, instead they... scattered? A sinking feeling in her gut brought everything to a screeching halt.

"Release the first rancor!" bellowed the Tannt Leader, the crowd roaring in approval, clearly in love with the idea.

Arekk

 

[Arekk]

Thracior, The Core Worlds
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Arekk had been waiting for Kestrel to put away her weapons to engage in one final face-to-face showdown but she had something different in mind; kicking the plans in motion at that moment. While the fallen Jedi felt the plan needed a little more time it seemed like time was gonna be an issue so they had to execute it rapidly. As the girl kicked herself in motion to jump over his head in an attempt to reach the third gate, the crowd began roaring as the tribesmen spoke out in their native language addressing the on-going situation.

"Wait, what?" Arekk spoke out without skipping a beat, eyebrows furrowing at the mention of the Rancor. "Nobody said anything about a fething Rancor!"

Reaching out with his palm to grab both vibroswords, the slicer threw the other sword at Kestrel to prepare for the upcoming battle. Defeating a Rancor was no easy feat and Arekk knew that after facing one many years ago in a Dxun cave during a covert operation to infiltrate a Sith base. He hated them with a passion but regardless of size and how menacing they look Rancors were slow and erratic in their behaviour, taking it down would require a lot of coordination.

"Think something fast, girl." He insisted with haste, the crowd roaring even louder as the gates that kept the Rancor secured opened, a loud growl from within announcing the creature's arrival. "Or we'll be food for this thing."

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Kestrel Dray ​

 

[Kestrel Dray]

T H R A C I O R
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"Think of something fast, girl, or we'll be food for this thing."

The rancor opened its jaws and roared, showing off an impressive amount of razor sharp teeth, clearly prepared for battle - or to make them its next meal. Her abilities were not tested against such large beasts.

"Put it down as fast as possible before it kills us! Survive!"

Wasting no time, Kestrel tightened her grip around the vibroblade in her hand and moved. Not away from the creature, but towards it. Better to finish it quickly if possible.

She could feel the pure essence of the Force empower her, both body and mind as she became a vessel of the living Force. Only centimeters away, she leaped. The deafening roars resounded throughout the arena. Patrons cheered for victory. The Rancor hungrily gnashed its teeth, and Kestrel roared for their lives, taking aim with the vibro-sword in hand at the creatures eye socket, hoping for a quick, clean shot to its brain; ending it as humanely as possible for a fight that was supposed to be to the death. What she wasn't counting on, was the beasts arms being as fast as they were, reaching its meaty claws to swat her away mid-air, as effortlessly as one might swat a buzzing gnat - sending her flying in a spiral and clear across the arena, where she did not immediately get up.

Arekk

 

[Arekk]

Thracior, The Core Worlds
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"Watch out!"

That was the last thing Arekk could say before the Rancor decided to angrily push away Kestrel like a fly, making her attempt at finishing the creature's life a vain one. Falling on the floor seemingly unresponsive the fallen Jedi couldn't do anything but watch the beast get even closer to the girl with his meaty claws and roaring as loud as it could.

"Hey, big boy! Come here!" He taunted the beast to drag away its attention from the injured girl, letting her get eaten wasn't on today's menu. "You wanna eat something, huh?! How about this vibrosword?!"

Reaching out with his palm open, Arekk pulled Kestrel's vibrosword towards him to dual-wield against the mighty beast before him. As big as a tower and strong as a Krayt Dragon the Rancor would prove to be a tough opponent to beat. Much like Dxun, the fallen Jedi would adopt a much more offensive stance against the monster so he can attack its weakest point with one swift stroke: the top of its head.

"Get over here now!" The beast roared loudly as it turned around, big steps making the whole arena shake as it made its way towards the man with the hunger of a thousand Sarlacc's. "I must be crazy."

Shifting his feet to face the Rancor and raising the vibroswords at head level, the former Jedi turned slicer used the Force to take a big leap and attempt to land on the monster's head which would prove successful. The beast got even angrier now, moving its meaty clawy hands around in annoyance and hunger, trying to get the insignificant meatbag off its dome.

The crowd watched in awe as Arekk dominated the beast that had been eating champions for centuries, a silent so incredible took over for a second before the man pierced through its head with the swords to finally put an end to the fight.

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Kestrel Dray ​

 

[Kestrel Dray]

T H R A C I O R
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Reality came back slowly, the first thing she heard being the muffled jeers and boos of the crowd. Disoriented, her perspectives started to shift, pain radiating throughout the entire right side of her body, coming to realize that she was laying face down in dirt.

The arena...

The pained roar became more and more clear as the seconds ticked by, followed by a loud and thunderous THUD. Realizing she had awoke, the prospects began screaming for her to get up. Squinting, she caught a glimpse of Arekk jumping off the back of the fallen Rancor.

Kestrel coughed and clenched her fists.

She needed to move. Pushing to her elbows, then following through to hands and knees, Kestrel swayed as she began standing up, she was not out of this yet. Willing the arena to stop spinning, she tried to look around, noticing her weapon to be gone.

It was back to just her and Arekk again, and he carried both weapons.

Her arm wrapped around her waist, knowing she was in no position to continue fighting, the crowd calling for her blood, they too realizing the situation.

I don't have the strength to keep up this charadae... it's time for plan B. Kestrel sent out the thought telepathically, Do it now, it's okay... I trust you.

Arekk

 

[Arekk]

Thracior, The Core Worlds
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"I trust you."

The words echoed in his mind while his hazel pools focused between the dead Rancor and Kestrel, one of the two vibroswords dropping to the sandy ground once she began communicating. It was a distant feeling, the Force, as he had severed himself from it a long time ago.

At first it felt like he was allucinating and began hearing things that weren't there, machinations of an ill-minded individual but deep enough he knew it were mere synapses getting back together once more to give him his 'gift' back.

"Huh?" The reply was nothing short of confusing, it'd take time for him to adjust to 'feel' the Force again let alone communicate through it. "Are you sure it'll work?"

Kestrel oozed a confidence only seen in masters of ancient, like the ones in Yutan that sat their entire lives meditating and becoming stronger with the Force and its sorroundings. Arekk took careful but quick steps to approach the seemingly 'wounded' girl as she grimaced in pain, grabbing her arm and yanking her onto her feet, the vibrosword nearing her gut at a dangerous distance.

"Assure me this is gonna work." He asked worringly, eyes settling on her own seeking some sort of relief. "I have never seen it before."

Like all the bad things in his life, it started with the death of a woman. Arekk hoped he could save her this time or make sure she saved herself in one way or the other.

Through bone and flesh, the blade slowly began making its way into the bowels of Kestrel until there was no more room for it, the crowd cheering behind the man's back as he 'claimed victory' over his oponnent. Arekk didn't dare to look one single second, the agonizing expression of a dying girl wasn't something he planned to live with the rest of his life...

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Kestrel Dray​

 

[Kestrel Dray]