Pirates are a rowdy lot. It is a fact rarely questioned and merely accepted by those who deal with them regularly. While the Herald’s crew is no different, the band's leader has a different approach to facilitating their tendencies. To this end, one of the Matron's smaller hangars — designated Hangar Zerek — has been recommissioned as a combat arena... or execution chamber.

Once a dedicated repair bay, Hangar Zerek is still equipped with fabricator arms and an assortment of Trade Federation droid parts that have fallen into disrepair. A squared off section, including illumination banks at each corner, designates the intended arena. The section is denoted by active shock fences, run by nearby generators. It is here that the crew lets off steam, with the hangar bay sealed.

The hangar itself still has a fully functioning force field that comes into play when matches are meant to become more interesting, or when it comes time to jettison troublesome captives. The hangar bay doors peel open, leaving only the active field to separate the arena from the vacuum of space. The control mechanisms for the hangar doors can be operated manually from the control booth or on a set timer, including the force field's toggle switch.

The control booth is the last segment of Hangar Zerek worth noting. Doubling as an observation deck, it is the only obvious entrance to the hangar. All maintenance hatches and access-ways have been sealed in advance, though the catwalks crisscrossing along the upper layers of the hangar remain. The booth itself is sealed, providing a safe haven for when the force field comes down.

A heavy fog is something nigh supernatural, with its depths hidden in a sheet so thick and vast starships could vanish as long as one is around. Cimozjen was not unfamiliar with supernatural events coinciding with everyday weather, nor was he a stranger to visions of things that told his future. As a Force disciple, very few things could confuse him easily. However, the dense fog was strange, as the last place he remembers being was on board a pirate starship, taking bets to pay off an extensive tab. Amidst the fog, the human could hear whispers, blaster bolts flying, and the hum of a lightsaber pair with the erratic tones of a vibroblade. As the sounds of combat grew, a constant booming of the earth began to pulse and swell with volume. thud. Thud. BOOM. "ARAAGH!" came the sound of a specter reaching out with clawed fingers, baring down at Cimozjen's throat. A soft pat on the shoulder. "Hey, you alright? You just won the 4th fight bet on tonight's 6 match card. You should be ecstatic dude!", said Notin, the pirate who has been peddling out death sticks all night and constantly offering them to the now blindsided jedi. "It's fine, I'd be more excited if winning tonight's card would get the bartender's eyes off me.", said Cimozjen. "But I'll need to play at least another week before I could get my ship out of the cargo hold in one piece.", said the drunk, motioning for another round as his eyes caught the bartender's scowl. "Yeah, I didn't choose the pirate life either, it chose me.", grinned the pirate as 2 glasses reached them. "I didn't get a choice in a lot of things, even this, but it beats sobriety.", said Cimozjen. "True enough", Notin agreed. They lightly tapped their glasses together and drank the ship's local paint thinner down, down, down...

3 Minutes and he went down. 180 seconds and 4000 credits disappear down the hole, lamented Dave as his heart hit his stomach at the same time as his champion fighter of the night hit the floor. Dave had known that the bet was a hot one, and that he was certainly no gambler. However, a turned-in bounty and a new accessory for his prized blade guided Dave to a party night. Drinking, flirting, and looking for a good time, Dave had listened to a no-good pirate by the name of Notin. The Pirate already earned Dave's credits earlier on by selling him a teaser sample of death sticks, which had already long worn off. The drug dealer had dared Dave double his winnings if he could win a single bet tonight betting against a guy named C. (his name never brought up in full) Eager and high in a handful of fashions, the Merc took up this dare and is now faced with his regret. After eyeing the bar up for a few minutes, as his fighter was being cleaned up with a shovel and bucket, Dave found the Pirate dealer he owed his reward of debt to, as well as the winning gambler of the night.

Approaching Notin, Dave had his hand already secured around the 4k Credits he owed in addition to the remaining value of his recent bounty. "Haha, you should see your face, sap. Nobody ever leaves the Godless Matron richer than when they got here.", said the Rouge, as he took Dave's losses into his hands. "Those would belong to me, Fr-ien-d.", said the Gambler, putting emphasis on each syllable of the word. "Speaking of which, how have you guessed each fighter winning this whole night?", said Dave to the half-drunk wastrel sitting with Notin. "None of your business, that's how." said C. Dave starting to feel his loss turn into anger over the dismissive and swindling tone of the two before him. "Listen, if you wanna talk business then know that my best pay week is sitting in your pocket right now, so if I'm gonna ask a dumb question, at least have the courtesy to say something interesting, even if it's a lie or a rigged match from the start.", said Dave as he struggled to keep his rising temper under wraps. "Every good fighter thats seen some action, can tell who is gonna go down early, and who is making it to the end of the night.", responded Cimozjen to the irritable Merc providing an example of a death glare. "Any GOOD Fighter?!?", rose the voice of the younger human. "Watch that tone...", the Jedi began before being cut-off by the 3rd wheel present in the argument. "Ladies, relax, there's a simple way to solve all this and either of you might actually leave this ship with some weight in your pockets if you're lucky." said the pirate, his brow barely hiding his grin. " This is a fighting ring club that cracks planets by day and everything else by night. Both of you offer up the other's Debt, and the loser will be stuck here as they clean up a mess worth two. Leaving as the winner will award you the other's purse, the double winning I offered up to half the room earlier, and they can leave first thing in the morning.", the words almost cursed with the air of a guarantee as Notin layed out the terms. Dave paused for a moment, unaware of the debts of his competitor, before opening his mouth, "Deal." The words came from inside the glass Cimozjen had begun to drink when Notin had taken the attention of the upset Merc, "I'll take that offer if it means leaving a week early.", continued the half-drunk scoundrel. Dave could feel a nag at his heart, but his pride and accounts were both wounded, so he simply nodded. Both competitors shook the Pirates hand and were quickly ushered to the ring as Notin began his announcements.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I have a special one-time-only extension to tonight's fight card! Two excellen...." The voice faded from each combatants' awareness as they prepared for their fight.