Three for the money

[Sargon Vynea]

The arena at Phu was packed tonight, and the lines to put bets in were swelled as everyone tried to get their bets in before the match actually started. The noise was a constant buzz sound even in the VIP box over the arena as Sargon observed the specially constructed pit. The arena was as simple as they came, a five foot circle in the center with three lines extending out of it, one for each contender. The walkways themselves were only two feet across, and below that in the circle were thirty feet of nothing until a durasteel floor. The tractor beams above were already primed and practicing catching projectiles before the fighters made their ways out. If you feel you were eliminated, but no one was dying today from that. The rules for the fight had been announced an hour ago and changed the pace of betting immediately. No armor, no weapons other then a spear as per the Sponsor, and no Force abilities.

The analysts still couldn't agree who'd gotten the biggest hit from that, there were two Force users among the fighters, but the loss of Beskar armor was quite a hit as well. To up the ante there was no timer, but instead as the match continued it would start to rain inside the pit itself, and then the wind would pick up. As they reached the ten minute mark they'd be fighting in a low wind with rain, but at the thirty the gusts would be intense enough to push an off balance fighter possibly off. One thing was for certain, it was going to be a hell of a match.

[member="Beltran Rarr"] [member="Kaine Australis"] [member="Arekk"]

 

[Beltran Rarr]

As the first song came to a close, the lights remained darkened. For several long moments, nothing happened. The muffled sounds of a thousand creatures murmuring among themselves could be heard as the audience wondered at what was going to come next.

And then:

Spoiler

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BE0D9geu2o

A single note on a piano being played, over and over. A dark bass riff accompanying it. Otherworldly chanting, indecipherable.

Then a voice. Singing mournfully:

​

“Before I die alone, let me have vengeance. Before I die alone, I will have vengeance.”​

The lights begin to brighten a little, alternating in an intricate display of crimson and amber. Fog begins to roll in from the entryway of the coliseum, the grey vapor rising up into the stands.

A drum beats, joining the accompaniment.

The tempo increases as the voice continues to sing its lamentation:

​

“Before I die alone, before my time is gone. There’s just one thing I have to do. Before the fire and stone, before your world is gone. Have you some patience, because I will have my vengeance.”​

The crimson and amber lights move throughout the audience, before settling in on the entrance. There, partially shrouded in the fog, stands a figure. The beat continues as he begins moving forward, stalking through the vapor and shadow, comfortable as it was his natural habitat.

Beltran Rarr moved quickly to the middle of the arena. He was dressed in only a pair of black fatigue pants and a pair of heavy combat boots. His torso, completely exposed, displayed rippling muscle and a dozen or more scars.

He carried the spear he’d been given to fight with in his left hand. This would his second time fighting on this world, his second time defeating his enemies with the pole weapon. As he had before, the Lorrdian would come to victory here.

Fixing the first of his opponents with a dispassionate green gaze that had unnerved a hundred beings Beltran did not speak nor move any further. He just stood there and watched, learning a thousand things from a hundred barely perceivable body movements. While in the background, the singer voiced one final lament:

​

“Before I die alone, let me have vengeance. Before I die alone, I will have my vengeance.”​

[member="Kaine Australis"] [member="Arekk"] [member="Sargon Vynea"]

 

[Beltran Rarr]

Beltran continued to hold his spear in his left hand, draped down at his side, even as the other man began to advance on him. His green eyes considered his opponent with casual dispassion. The swell of the crowd, the lights and the fact that he was about to engage in the fight of his life: none of these things seemed to phase the Lorrdian even a little.

From his manner, he might as well been waiting in line at the grocery store.
What was going on behind his green gaze, however, was far more intricate. He was watching his opponent, reading his body language and it was telling him quite a bit. First, this man was not new to the rigors of combat. He was likely a veteran of many more battles than Beltran had ever seen. As a result, he likely had a whole slew of skills that Beltran didn’t.

That didn’t bother him, however. In truth, the Lorrdian preferred opponents who outclassed him in at least some way. His previous matches had been, disappointingly, quick to be proven in his favor. He looked forward to fighting a man who could actually teach something.
To Kaine’s words, Beltran responded only by allowing a slow smile creep over his lips.

When the man got closer, Beltran watched him as he began to step to the right. It was obvious that he was looking for an opening, and certainly not falling for the fact that Beltran had pretty much left his enter front side vulnerable. He was smart, in addition to being taller and heavier than the Lorrdian.

Even better.

When Kaine was in mid side-step Beltran kicked out at the ground, driving a spray of sand from the coliseum’s floor up toward the Mandalorian’s face. With luck, at least some of it would find its way into the man’s eyes. Next, without waiting to see whether the surprise attack had been effective, Beltran lashed out with his spear one-handed. Target was the larger man’s thigh, intending to wound or otherwise slow him down.

[member="Kaine Australis"] [member="Sargon Vynea"]

 

[Beltran Rarr]

Almost instantly, Beltran realized his mistake. The force with which the Mandalorian had knocked his one-handed thrust aside unbalanced the Lorrdian, catching him unprepared when the much larger man’s charge impacted him.

It was all he could do to move his head enough out of the way of the precursor clash that the tip of Kaine’s spear didn’t actually slash his eyes, but instead opened his flesh from his jaw to his ear. As the pain of the sudden trauma flooded through Beltran’s senses, he flew back through the air, knocked easily off his feet by his opponents much heavier weight.

A second later, he hit the ground-directly on his back. The impact forced the air out of his chest, leaving his head swimming even as blood seeped from his wound.

It was needless to say that the situation the Lorrdian found himself in was as bad it could get. If he didn’t find a way back to his feet almost immediately, he knew he would quickly find himself underneath the larger man’s weight and utterly unable to defend himself.

Looking up at the Mandalorian standing over him, Beltran allowed a rare smile to cross his lips. His green eyes narrowed as he used the pain coursing through him to focus himself. His left hand tightened on the spear, which he’d somehow managed to keep hold of, and he flung it toward Kaine.

It was a clumsy throw, but one with enough strength behind it to send the spear spinning wildly, end over end, into the path of his advancing enemy. Beltran didn’t expect it to do anything more than slow Kaine down the half-step he needed to change position.

Without waiting to see if it worked, Beltran kicked his feet up and over his head-moving smoothly into a reverse somersault. As he rolled back over his shoulders, the Lorrdian came up cleaning on his feet, facing his opponent.

Sand from the coliseum stuck to his face-held there by the blood of his wound. His dark smile remained untouched on his lips.

“Nicely done,” He said softly-his voice still carrying itself easily to the General’s ears. “It’s nice to finally have an opponent worth something.”

[member="Kaine Australis"]

 

[Sargon Vynea]

The rain began to fall now as the fight got underway, the sand underneath their feet would turn into mud before too long. The hum of electricity could be heard around the arena as the shields snapped into place to keep the slight wind from effecting the spectators. In the arena itself it wouldn't even effect the fighters much yet. This was the calm before the storm, but what a storm it would be. Private bets still went back and forth a among the fans, but the official bets were all in now. From the owner's box the Zabrak's eyes moved between official reports and the fight itself, both nearly as interesting to him in truth. The fight was starting out as one hell of an event, but he'd put quite a lot of his own money into the company so watching it's first tournament turn a neat profit was quite pleasant.

He was less then pleased to see one of the fighters had quit before the match even begun, but that was the nature of the galaxy he supposed. There were many more things on the agenda now including setting up the next tournament, but for the minute he put that to the side and just enjoyed the show. Both fighters had earned their place in the spotlight after all, they'd made it through mad men, a monster and a few forcers to get here. For the moment they deserved all eyes on them, it may have been Sargon's company, but tonight it was their show.

[member="Kaine Australis"] [member="Beltran Rarr"]

 

[Beltran Rarr]

Beltran’s words were abruptly cut off when the much larger Mandalorian smashed right into him. In the scant second or two that that he flew through the air, the Lorrdian would take a second to reconsider his strategy. His first two rounds had been relatively easy, and had ended truly before they’d even started. This had, perhaps, given Beltran Rarr a false sense of security when it came to facing a man like [member="Kaine Australis"]. He hadn’t even considered the possibility that the much larger, far more experienced, warrior might actually have something on him.

And now he, as he impacted the ground hard, he knew that he had made a mistake. Once more, the force of the impact knocked the wind out of him. But, in addition to that, he half heard-half felt-the snap of one of his ribs.

White hot pain flooded his senses, threatening to overwhelm him in the first few seconds of its commencement. Yet, even through the agony of his latest injury, Beltran’s mind continued to work. He now knew that the Mandalorian would not relent, even for a second. So, even as he struggled to find his breath, Beltran began log rolling to the side.

He hoped that the sudden change in his direction would force the Mandalorian to slow just long enough for him to make it to his feet. Like he had before, with the spear slash, he used the pain to focus himself. Water began to pour down, and the sudden addition of rain to the coliseum's environment quickly began to turn the sandy ground to mud.

Forcing deep breaths into and out of his wounded abdomen in a quick, but controlled rate, he kicked his feet out, execute a neat kip-up and landing on his feet. Mud covered his face and torso as he turned to face his opponent. He wasted no time executing a charge of his own.

Unlike Australis, he didn’t have the bulk or brute force to knock his opponent down-so he didn’t even try. Instead, as he neared to about three paces he jumped up and forced his feet in front of him in a flying kick aimed directly at the Mandalorian’s stomach.

 

[Beltran Rarr]

The jumping kick had been a risk, Beltran knew that but it had been the only way-to his mind-to garner enough power in a counterattack to hope to incapacitate his much larger opponent. Yet, even as his body left the ground, Beltran knew that it was going to fail. A dozen tiny indications in his enemy’s body language gave the uncannily perceptive Lorrdian the knowledge of what was going to happen next.

As he flew toward the Mandalorian, Beltran watched as Kaine turned side-face toward him, stepping out of the path of his kick. Already knowing that his enemy would find a way to punish him for his miscalculation, Beltran raised his arm up next to his head-protecting the exposed area instinctively just as the other man threw his elbow.

Between his block, and the momentum which carried the Lorrdian passed Kaine, Beltran felt only a glancing blow against his tricep. It hurt, certainly, but caused no real damage.

Coming down on the ground in a smooth landing just behind the and to the right of the Mandalorian, Beltran wasted no time spinning on the ball of his foot-using the remaining momentum from the jump to drive a surprisingly powerful kick into the back of his opponent’s knee. While the intention was to unbalance his enemy, it would hardly be the only attack in his new offensive.

Next, he would side-step so that he was directly behind the Mandalorian and lash out with both his arms-attempting to land each of his forearms against either side of Kaine’s neck. The intention here was to cut off briefly, the blood that was supplied to his enemy’s brain via the carotid artery in the neck. If executed properly, this brachial stun maneuver could-in theory-bring his opponent down into sudden unconsciousness. Or, more likely, cause a sudden sense of dizziness that would cause him to waver-giving the Lorrdian time to mount an additional assault.

For the moment, the burst of adrenaline that had accompanied Beltran’s fresh wounds was dulling the pain enough that his speed and endurance weren’t hampered. But, he knew, as time wore on he would begin to feel the pain of his fractured rib and damaged face. He needed to end this fight as quickly as he could.

[member="Kaine Australis"]

 

[Beltran Rarr]

From his place behind the large Mandalorian, Beltran’s ability to read his opponent’s body language was severely hampered. So it was with some surprise that he found himself sudden caught in the man’s iron grip. His brachial stun had been effectively blocked and now
Kaine had reached up and behind himself, grabbing onto Beltran’s head.

In a smaller, weaker opponent, Beltran would have simply pulled down on Kaine’s grip and used his body weight to force the man in the awkward position to fall right onto his back. But his enemy was too big, and his grip was like iron. Had Beltran attempted that, Kaine likely would have been able to flip the much lighter Lorrdian over his shoulder.

As it stood, Beltran had little chance to do more than stiffen with the surprise before he was suddenly being pulled forward by his opponent’s body weight. In an instant, he saw what Kaine was attempting. It was a risky move, to unbalance yourself in such a way, but as the Lorrdian watched his enemy’s foot coming toward his face he knew that if the Mandalorian landed such a blow-the battle would likely be over.

With all the strength the Lorrdian could muster, he wriggled hard in Kaine’s grip. In this, the sudden addition of the rain go the coliseum’s environment provided its own form of aid by making the bald Lorrdian’s skin slippery with the moisture. He was able to break free of his opponent’s hands and move his head to the side just enough that as the larger man’s foot came to bear, it glanced off the side of his head.

Even with the glancing blow, Beltran’s eyes blurred for a moment with the power that had been behind it. Had Kaine landed the blow fully, Beltran probably would have suffered a skull fracture or worse. Fortunately for him, and unfortunately for the Mandalorian, the glancing blow hadn’t had nearly that effect.

Now the Mandalorian would likely be flat on his back and the Lorrdian knew he would have to take full advantage of the sudden change in order to hope to win. He didn’t bother lashing out with any more blows at the fallen Mando, he was quickly learning that engaging in hand-to-hand with this man would only lead to more injuries. Instead, he reached down and grabbed a handful of the mud that was quickly forming on the ground. He then flung it directly at his opponent’s face, hoping once more to blind the other man long enough for him to enact his next plan.

Even as the mud flew through the air, Beltran turned and pivoted on the ball of his foot and took off at a sprint. His destination: The spear which Kaine had dropped on the ground only moments before. His own spear, which he had thrown hastily in an attempt to bide time was too far away for him to hope to reach in time, but Kaine’s had come to rest only a half dozen paces away.

Upon reaching it, Beltran dove forward-rolling on his shoulders in perfect somersault. He grabbed the downed weapon as he came up and in a smooth movement turned to face his opponent with the spear up and in a ready position. He would then side-step three or four times, putting himself directly in the path between Kaine and the other spear, which lay approximately ten to twelve paces away.

[member="Kaine Australis"]

 

[Sargon Vynea]

The show was well on it's way now as each fighter was digging into each other, and what an impressive show it was. The ante was upped though now as the simulated weather picked up inside the arena, flashes of light crackled across the shield to simulate the lighting announcing to the fighters there was more to come. The wind was now a gale tugging at clothes and hair as the rain slanted with it falling down hard against the mud. The rain drops pooled at the bottom of the pit below them, globs of mud falling over the side as the fighters moved around. Both fighters had fought with skill and heart, more then once he'd caught himself gripping the arm of his chair as he thought the end was near.

He wondered for a brief moment if they knew how many locations this fight was being streamed out to galaxy wide. He supposed it wouldn't really matter to either one of them at the moment but with such a showing they'd be household names before long. As one of the fighters armed himself again Sargon couldn't help but be swept up in the excitement. Not every fight had gone through all the way as he hoped, but beginnings were made of ups and downs like that. This though, this was the finale that the tournament would be remembered for in the public's mind.

[member="Beltran Rarr"] [member="Kaine Australis"]

 

[Beltran Rarr]

So, Beltran thought as he came face to face with the Mandalorian warrior once more. It can speak. Kaine stood in front of him, arms outstretched, daring Beltran to attack him with the spear. There was a large part of the Lorrdian that wanted to punish his opponent for the injury and pain that he’d wrought in the opening moments of the fight. It was a worthy notion, but one that Beltran needed to rein in. Anger was worse than useless without focus. It led to stupid mistakes.

As the rain intensified and the wind began to whip up around them, the Lorrdian suppressed a shiver. The growing ache in his abdomen was continuing to intensify, and Beltran knew that the fight needed to end soon or hypothermia or the pain of his injuries would overtake him.

Kaine then began to advance on the smaller Lorrdian, but this time Beltran would give the Mandalorian no ground. He wanted Kaine pressed up against the edge of the platform, unarmed and as far away from the other weapon as possible.

[SIZE=11pt]He would lash out with a couple of quick jabs of the spear, feints to keep his opponent from moving to the either side. And then, when he felt he had Kaine exactly where he wanted, the Lorrdian would lean forward and strike-thrusting the spear with the tip aimed directly at the General’s abdomen. If successful, the attack would embed the weapon inside the Mandalorian’s gut. Not an outright kill shot, but rather a death far more slow and painful.[/SIZE]

 

[Beltran Rarr]

Despite the whipping wind and freezing rain, Beltran was sure that he could smell the metallic scent of Kaine’s blood as the tip of his spear sliced into the man’s torso. It was a glancing blow, true, but it was also the first real injury that he’d inflicted on his opponent. The thrill of combat was coursing through him with a strength that he’d not felt since he’d faced the Sith on Kashyyyk.

All his life, the Lorrdian had known violence. But it had been a different kind of violence, premeditated-cold. The hot fury of combat had a whole different flavor to it than murder, and it was intoxicating.

As the Mandalorian gripped the spear and pulled him closer, Beltran formulated a plan. Of course Kaine wanted him in close. He wanted to dominate the Lorrdian the way he had from the opening moments of the match. Beltran knew that if allowed that to happen, his chance at victory would likely be nil. So, in that split-second, he made a choice.

Even as Kaine’s palm strike moved ever closer to his face, Beltran lashed out with a kick. His target, the shaft of the spear, just below where Kaine was holding it. At the same time, he rolled his head to the side doing his best to minimize the impact of the impending strike.
Once again, his vision turned white and blurry with the force of the impact from Kaine’s strike. But at the same time, the Lorrdian heard the gratifying sound of wood snapping. He stumbled backward, moving somewhat awkwardly for the second or two it took his vision to clear.

In his hand, he still held about two thirds of the spear’s shaft, leaving the remaining third along with the head in Kaine’s grip.
He would remain between the Mandalorian and the undamaged spear and once his eyes found his opponent once more. He would twirl his piece of spear shaft like it was a quarterstaff.

“Let’s go, old man.” He would call out, attempting to anger the Mandalorian into making a mistake. “Let us finish this.”

[member="Kaine Australis"] [member="Sargon Vynea"]

 

[Beltran Rarr]

Beltran barely had time to get his taunt out before the Mandalorian was on him, slashing with the stabbing with the tipped end of the broken spear. While the Lorrdian’s mind still felt a little fuzzy from the impact of Kaine’s palm strike, he was familiar enough with the Mandalorian’s modus operandi now that he felt no surprise that the other man had chosen to press the attack.

Moving as quick as he could, Beltran side-stepped out of the path of Kaine’s bull rush. He suppressed a wince as he felt the tip of the Kaine’s weapon run along his thigh, leaving a long but superficial cut along it. If he’d remained where he was, it would have dug deep into his leg causing serious, if not fatal, damage.

A series of quick, but increasingly agonizing breaths, allowed the Lorrdian to follow up with a quick strike with his spear-turned-quarterstaff aimed at his opponent’s now exposed back. If successful, the blow would land where Kaine’s kidneys were housed-causing the Mandalorian an exceptional amount of pain.

But Beltran wouldn’t wait to see if the strike hit, as he knew he didn’t have that kind of time. He would follow up with a series of increasingly savage blows each aimed at any inviting target that presented itself: the back of the thigh, the back of the head before switching grip to try and strike at the side of Kaine’s ribcage.

[member="Kaine Australis"]

 

[Sargon Vynea]

A loud crack of thunder rocked the arena as the storm unleashed it's full power upon the two combatants. Rain lashed at the combatants coming down hard and fast enough to wash them clean of both mud and blood. The mud was the greater danger though as it turned into soup under their feet as the real chance of simply sliding out over the edge became a possibility. The wind gusts pulled at the combatants themselves, it all looked amazing on the holo. Of course Sargon doubted the fighters were really enjoying it at the moment, but with any luck once they caught it on holo they'd appreciate just how epic they looked at this moment. As for Sargon though he was as entranced as the crowd by the fight, no matter who claimed the crown of this tournament both fighters had put on an amazing show.

[member="Beltran Rarr"] [member="Kaine Australis"]