Star Wars: In The Pits

The Galaxy is in uprising, Imperials clash with Rebel scum all over the Empire. Star Destroyers impose the Imperial might on countless star systems. But for some that conflict is distant in their minds, the struggles of daily life drown out any concerns of political struggles. Some such people seek entertainment, excitement, drink and a little gambling. On Nar Shaddaa all that can be found around the bloody gladiatorial arenas of the Hutts.

One arena is owned by an up and coming Hutt of only middle aged and yet cunning, his name is Zero. The arena is a thing of pleasure for him, a venture for entertainment with a little profit on the side. Tonight there is a small tournament taking place to entertain some potential business partners, a Hunt followed by a series of Duels.

Underneath the arena the Gladiators prepare, their gear checked and checked again. The sounds of a growing crowd flow down from above, the smells of hot food. Then over it all the cries of bookies taking bets on all manner of things can be heard. The four that are taking part in the hunt have make their way to the gate, ready to face whatever surprises Zero has in store. Finally the time arrives and the gates open to a short dark tunnel into the arena floor, the hunt is on!

As you emerge from the darkened tunnel into the brightly lit arena the crowd greets you with a bellowing roar. Before you lies a complex network of walls that have been raised up out the floor. They are each of various heights, from one to three meters high, forming a kind of maze. As you stand there enjoying the crowds attention there is a series of roars from across the arena, the crowd goes ballistic. Gradually a chant rises up above the noise " Blood! blood! blood! blood!"

Up in the stands, to one side and in his private box Zero gazes down on the spectacle and chuckles "Begin!"

Michael Gorwan draws his vibro-axe and decides to please the crowd

He slams his axe on a rock on the arena floor the rock splits and fly's up to the seats.

The crowd goes wild!!!!

The crowd can't stop, people get up out of their seats, to walk over to the bets, others stand to get a better glimpse of the tank that can split rock, those that caught the rock halves are fingering them like an artifact.

A good start for Gorwan

' There is no glory in the Hunt' Bull thought to himself as the Gates opened, he always much prefered the Gladiator V. Gladiator fights they were always caught of guard when he entered the ring. Bull was standing further back in the gateway under the cover of shadow that so when it opened he would be hidden till the time was right Then Gorwan ran out to go an impress the crowd, ' There goes the Hotshot '. He cracked his neck. Bull had to get into character before he went out there, they Knew the "Mad Bull" not Bull. The crowd was loving the show Gorwan was putting on he really did know how to work a crowd. ' Showtime'.

" RRooooooooooaaaaaaaarggh " Bull roared like a wild man as he ran out into the Pit, his eyes darted around the crowd and the arena as he entered. Normally Rival Gladiators would be on the other side of the Pit, fearing the sound of the "Mad Bull" and shaking in their boots, but in the Hunts the Beasts were not released till after the Gladiators he couldn't tell if his Beast-like roars phased them. However as his eyes darted he could see that a few groups among the crowd were really quivering in fear.

Sevrath Arjun stepped out into the arena. It never ceased to amaze him how enthralled the crowd becomes to view a fight. Such primal bloodlust we all carry with us , he mused. Gowran had already ran ahead, always so eager to gain the crowd's adoration. Between him and Bull, they were never disappointed. Heh, there's the "Mad Bull's Roar." Unlike the other Gladiators, Arjun carried no weapon with him. The first time he had entered the arena like this, allies and enemies alike sneered at him. After that day, there was no more sneering. His teacher's words rung through his mind: If you wish to use a weapon you admit you must rely on an inanimate tool to act for you. First, you must control yourself. Only then will you control your weapon .

Arjun needed to prepare for the fight ahead. Dropping to his knees, he takes these last moments to meditate, focusing his mind into the finely honed scalpel that he would require today. Perhaps today he would make a breakthrough, perhaps not. First, he must survive whatever Zero has in store.

'Too bad I didn't bring the fireworks for this', Vyrr says to Bull and Gorwan as the Chadra-Fan sprints past them and into the maze. Despite the bulk of their equipment, they quickly create a huge gap between them and their allies. Using their climbing gear and momentum, Vyrr runs up the nearest wall and leaps over it. The height of their momentary position allows the Chadra-Fan to take a look at their team's part of the maze. Vyrr places a finger to one of their ears while keeping the pace, 'Vyrr to everyone, we have door controls on your ten and on your two'.

Vyrr slows down, feeling that they reached far enough, and pulls out their rifle, and starts to look out for the beasts.

Zero sat quietly munching on some rather slimy delicacies that where a particular favourite of his guests. Below him tonights hunt was just beginning and it looks like the cunning beasts where planing an ambush on the small Gladiator. Those gladiators always think their invincible, ha! This should be interesting.

Down below a pack of leathery humanoid creatures where quietly sneaking through the maze, relying on their incredible sense of smell to guide them through. Picking up the scent of a foe they circled around before leaping from cover to slash with their exceedingly sharp claws.

The beasts were not the only creatures in the arena who had a developed sense of smell. Vyrr's well-designed gas mask unobtrusive to the Chadra-Fan's scent which allowed them to notice the attackers.

Vyrr bolts to the left, luring the beasts in the open, and starts spraying the environment with their gun. Two bodies fall on the ground, as the Chadra-Fan hurries to one of the mechanisms they noticed earlier while reporting, 'Got two of them; keep up or I'll make it three'.

Gorwan moves to the back. "The beasts come out from the back,duh"

Deep within the maze of walls more beasts stalk their prey. As each silently twists and turns the crowd cheers, some pointing while others make yet more bets on who it is that will die next.

Suddenly blaster fire erupts with in the maze, flashes of red briefly eliminating the ceiling above. Screams of dying beasts rise up from the slain instantly followed by groans from those hoping for as gladiator to die first.

At first one punter throws their food at the nearest gladiator, but soon many more join in. Within half a minute the two gladiators still close to the edge are surrounded in a disgusting mix of leftovers from every corner of the Galaxy.

Bull glared at the Audience as they threw the food at him and near his feet. But he couldn't be bothered to scare them at the moment there were beasts to be slain. Bull readied his staff and took a few paces back before starting a sprint straight toward the wall. When he was just a few feet from hitting it his Staff met the ground and lifted him over the wall with ease. Luckily his staff joined him over the wall as started to make his way to the center of the Arena.

Sevrath sighed as he was jolted out of his meditation by an unripe blicci. Stang! Just a little longer and I would have been able to locate them Ah well, I'll have to find them the hard way. With Bull in the center, Gowran in the back, and Tavik lords know where, he headed off into the maze, moving along the right hand side in hopes of flanking any of the creatures. He tapped his comms: " Based on those screams, I'd wager our first course is Vrblthers. "

Bellowing with rage a pack of two more beasts launch themselves out of hiding as Bull landed deftly from his leap. Their large claws dripping with blood as the barrel forward.

Bull landed and started to look around when all of a sudden a pack of Vrblthers make themselves known. Bull roars " Raaaaaaargh" as he charges the pack. The Vrblthers hesitate as the intimidating Zabrak Glatiator rushes them.

Gorwan rushes to attack the beasts, he slips up, that mixed with the scales, and its still alive, "I'm going to pay for that later"

Seeing their allies dogpile on the pair of previously unnoticed predators, Vyrr decides to continue rushing towards the contraption they saw earlier. The Chadra-Fan quickly scales a nearby wall, and takes a moment to survey the surroundings. To their delight, there was quite a bit more than a single beast left standing, meaning that their little 'pilgrimage' can still serve a practical purpose.

Sevrath saw another pack of Vrblthers launch themselves at his companions as he continued making his way toward the door control. I'm pretty sure they can handle themselves with these guys. This control could well be a trap, but traps only exist to be sprung I suppose . As he neared the control, he suddenly noticed a strange scuffling sound barely noticeable over the crowds. Guess I'll be getting some action soon. Better stay alert, he thought. Reaching the button, he pushed it.

With the drop of the lever an eerie silence spreads through the crowd, breaths are held in anticipation of what may come. These levers are known to bring change to the arena but those changes are always unpredictable. So the crowd watches, hopefull of mayhem... desperate for blood.

After a moment that seems like an eternity every wall in the arena rapidly retracts into the floor. Instantly foe can see foe, sixteen more beasts occupy the arena. On the left side a large group of six where trying to flank the hunters. Two more groups where working in tandem to pounce on those in the centre. Then finally there is a pack still near their entrance.

All had been keeping low, sneaking along walls with the caution of a predator, now though they see their chance to pounce. The pack of six leap toward the lever puller... too late. The devious arena master had put a small delay on the sequence. With a brutal ferocity slabs of steel shot back up out of the floor.

Three beasts are caught by the wall crushing their rib cage and sending them flying high into the air before they crash down in the stands, dead. The crowd erupts with cheats, their anticipation finished and their lust for blood met.

With that the giant mechanisms beneath the floor begin a cycle of raising and lowering the walls. There's perhaps a two to three second pause when they retract into the ground, and another pause when they reach full height... the motion in between is much much faster.

From their position Vyrr witnesses the movement of the arena parts near the other contraption. Seeing no more advantage to gain from the high ground, the Chadra-Fan abandons the wall without second thoughts. They rush towards the second mechanism, successfully avoiding the new environmental hazard.

Madness, Pure Madness, is what Bull saw going on after the Doctor decided to pull a random lever in the arena. The walls started moving up and down in alarming speed, fast enough to crush bone, luckily Bull was light enough on his feet to get out of the way of one.

One group of beasts tries to hit him hut hurts themselves in the process "well, that sucks for them".

He then pushes the group that bull pushed, and they barley escape. One doesn't. He fly's and lands on the ground then dies

Within the crowd the excitement has been bubbling, so far the Hunters have had the upper hand but with a few cunning strikes the Vrblther had finally landed some solid blows. The launching of one beast into the air brought a cheer, its crunching of bones initiating another round of betting upon the Hinters.

In the back of the arena where the last group of Vrblther, the largest individuals in the pit. They had been milling around where they had entered, waiting for their fellow pack to pounce. With the walls now moving they decided it was time to press forward.

Winding through the maze of moving walls the four of them headed for the centre, it seemed that was the best place to taste blood.

Ambushed by a group of Vrblthers, Vyrr retreats. As the Chadra-Fan administers one of the stimpacks, they step on an ascending segment of a wall. Vyrr is launched into the air, but manages to land on the back, making the injuries from the fall less severe.

Dusting himself off as he got back onto his feet, Sevrath took stock of his surroundings. That was too close, a little slower and that wall would have destroyed me . He saw Bull and Vyrr holding off packs of the beasts, then caught sight of a large group of them heading straight toward the center of the arena. Let's soften up these ones. Heading closer to the beasts, he cleared his mind, focusing on the lead Vrblther in the pack. Alright, time to sell this to the crowd. Pulling out an item from his medical kit, he pointed it at the beast and turned it on, lights flashing and a small hum emitting from it. It's just a scanner, but the audience can't tell. Then, he focused on the creature's nervous system. Picture the life Force as a lake. Now picture the level of that lake falling. Focus on draining that lake. Sevrath smiled in satisfaction as he heard the Vrblther let out an agonizing scream.