Haro Zylrun vs. Siorc

You had arrived on Arx after hearing word of a fighting tournament. It had been set up by the Combat Master and had been advertised as a Revival of the long held tradition of naming a Champion of the Antei Combat Center. As you had arrived at the signup table after waiting in line, you were met by a Trandoshan who looked you up and down, said nothing, and slid a form attached to a clipboard to you. A cheap chain linked a pen to the clipboard.

You read it over and it was a standard legal waiver noting that you could not hold the Combat Master or the Brotherhood liable for any injuries or even potential death that occurred during the tournament. You were entering this tournament of your own free will. Any and all repercussions of doing so were at no one’s fault but your own.

You signed, and the Trandoshan hissed with delight as he pointed to a door behind the table. A cheap paper sign was taped to the door that read “ACC Championship Introductory Meeting” in what looked to be felt-tipped black marker. You stepped inside the dark room and that is the last thing you remember until you woke up just now.

The world around you was dark… and soft. The area that you lay on felt just a bit more firm than a standard pillow. A quick check of yourself revealed that you still wore and carried everything you had when you had signed the waiver. While vision was extremely limited, you could tell that someone else was in the room with you. Four ceiling lights clicked on, one at a time, giving the room a bright glow beneath the four lights, but an eerie darkness outside of their radiance. You were in a padded room with a barred and sealed door. Every surface of the room was covered in thick, firm padded square tiles. You lay on a bed made of the same material in one corner of the room, while someone laid in another bed in the opposite corner. It was too dark to make out their figure well.

A holoprojection dropped from the ceiling, giving the room a pale blue glow. It was Combat Master Vincent Brujah. The Sith smirked as he began speaking.

“So, you’ve signed up for the tournament? Where I come from, that makes you a little crazy. I’ve taken you to a more appropriate environment for someone with your condition.”

As he smiled, pink mist began spraying from the ceiling at the same location as the lights. Slowly, what little you could see of the full room began to tint pink. The Combat Master’s smile grew wider.

“And if you weren’t crazy before… well… we can fix that. The effects of this drug will be pleasant… at first. You must be careful, though. Take too big of a dose and things can get downright terrifying, or so I’ve heard. Prolonged exposure will result in death.”

He shrugged slightly.

“The only way out of this room and into safe air is when I tell my crew to open the door, and I’m only going to do that when there is one of you left capable of walking away. Until then, enjoy the ride.”

The holoprojection blinked away. There was no starting whistle. No horn. No audience. Just silence, dim light, and the realization that the longer you sit there, the closer you would come to death.

Haro and his opponent stood, facing each other as they drew their weapons. There was no need for a posturing preamble, that would do nothing but kill precious time. Haro's rifle felt solid in his hands as he shrugged off his jetpack and flipped down his visor, switching to thermals. His opponent was clear now, but Haro stayed away from the light. If this other Mandalorian had thermals too, then the lights were unnecessary, and if he didn't, the lights were a weak link Haro could exploit.

Haro shot out one light, but instantly paid for it by barely dodging a blaster bolt aimed for him, which was followed by two more immediately after which ricocheted off his armor. Haro silently cursed the fact Kayfour didn't seem to have been brought here along with him. Some suppressive fire would be really good right about now.

Nevertheless, he shot a grenade toward Siorc, who simply let the high explosive detonate on his chestplate, doing damage equivalent to about kriff all. The black-helmeted Mando didn't even seem to register that a shaped charge rated for light vehicle armor had detonated less than ten centimeters from his chest, continuing to fire at Haro without even a pause.

Haro shot out another light, then realized something as he returned fire. On or out, the lights didn't matter if the area kept getting illuminated by blaster bolts. He needed to close the distance and force his opponent into melee.

He launched another grenade, this one at his opponent's feet, before dashing toward Siorc. On the way, he continued firing, pausing for only a moment as one of Siorc's shots found a gap in his armor. His biomantic response underlay activated, quickly healing the wound as Haro drew Ijaat from his back sheath and activated the vibration generator, slashing through his opponent's rifle.

Siorc switched to his vibroax to counter, and the two Mandos began to duel, Beskar ringing against Beskar as the room continued to fill with the drug, failing to find its way inside the pressure-sealed armor of either party.

While smaller than Siorc, Haro was fast. His Beskar sword moved with a fluid motion that was impressive. Realizing his opponent was pressing the fight, Siorc fought his natural inclination to immediately gain an advantage through brute force. The expended energy would just result in a stalemate at this point.

Instead he began a slow retreat for positioning. Blocking a blow from the sword and then taking a step backwards. He kept repeating this in a long slow circle bringing the fight towards the edge of the room. Leading his clan mate to where wanted him instead of forcing him there.

As the pair neared the corner opposite the door Haro took a gamble. Instead of slashing at the black clad mandalorian before him it attempted a stabbing lunge. It was Siorc’s first real opening in the fight. Stepping to his right quickly, Siorc now had the advantage. Over extended and slightly off balance all it took was a reverse swing of the back end of the Halberd. It struck Haro square on the back, the force of it propelling the Ad Vizsla into the padded wall.

Now Haro was cornered. The open room was to Siorc's back and so was the advantage. The Halberd struck again forcing another defense move from his cornered prey. The beskad was deadly if it could be fully swung. But backed into the corner the lethality of it was greatly hindered by the lack of movement. Each blow Siorc threw forced his opponent to defend rather than attack.

While the confined space didn't allow Haro to fully swing his beskad, it also didn't allow Siorc to build up a full swing of his own either, lest the black Mando open himself up to a strike from Haro's much faster blade.

That said, Siorc's attack was solid. Without the room to build up power for a strike, Haro couldn't get through. So, he took a blow from the haft of the vibroaxe in return for calling his jetpack to his position.

With a whoosh, the pack shot across the room and slammed into Siorc's back as Haro dropped to the ground and swept his opponent's legs out from under him, then slashed at Siorc's back, his beskad cutting a jagged but relatively shallow gash in his opponent's hip as Siorc rolled to a safer area to stand.

As Siorc rolled, Haro grabbed his rifle and shot a couple more grenades at the other Mando to disorient him before switching back to his beskad and starting to close the distance.

During Haro's jetpack maneuver, Siorc had lost his vibroaxe, and so was forced to use alternative methods. Nothing if not good at improvising, the Evereni tossed a thermal detonator at the charging blue Mando as he drew his pistol. He deflected Haro's initial strike with his vambrace before pressing the muzzle of his last remaining weapon to a gap above Haro's thigh plate.

But the man in blue didn't stop. With his strike deflected, he dropped his beskad and plowed into Siorc at full speed. With the instability of the padded floor, Siorc's strong stance was unable to keep him upright and the two fighters fell to the ground in a grapple, losing their weapons as the grenade detonated.

Haro felt the effects of the blast far more than Siorc, even through his pressure-sealed armor. His vision went fuzzy and his balance stopped registering. It felt like he was suddenly in zero gravity. But then, Siorc drove a fist into Haro's side, and the ramikad's instincts took over.

A large part of Mandalorian Core is ground fighting techniques, and Haro was the clear superior in this situation. He grabbed Siorc's dominant hand and squeezed, his last remaining weapon amplifying his strength far past the simple ability to break his opponent's fingers. As Haro crushed Siorc's right hand with his own left, his right was busy finding and gripping the black-armored Evereni's neck.

With a gruesome CRUNCH, the fight was over. Siorc went limp, his neck bent at an unnatural angle.

With that, the door beeped and slid open, its inky blackness beckoning the victor toward the next round of the tournament.

It was a stalemate in the corner but the pink must was flowing more freely. The room was full of it and their helmets would soon be overwhelmed. There were limits to how long their filters would be effective. Siorc didn't want to kill his clan mate but he knew the rules. If they continue to fight they would both die.

He also knew Haro would never yield. It was against the Creed and his opponent was a devout adherent. Siorc stepped back a step, then another. Haro began his attack again as they slowly retreated towards the door. Beskar striking Beskar rang through the room as they continued their melee. Rivers of the pink must had formed on their armor. It felt like the rains of Endura, heavy and unrelenting.

Then everything changed, Haro coughed the toxin finally breaking through his filtration. It was the only opening Siorc needed to finish the fight. The back of his Halberd struck upwards on Haro's wrist knocking his arm and sword upwards. Siorc twirled the long weapon in his hand and swung heavily into the armor gap at Haro’s waist. It struck hard and fast, knocking Haro over the Beskar sword flying loose and several feet away.

Unarmed Haro struggled back to his feet and he rushed at Siorc, but it was the foolish act of a desperate man. Siorc struck him again with the blunt end of his polearm. The time in the temple with loud metallic clang. Stunned from the blow Haro practically stood still, at least for a second. Now was the time for brute force and the Evereni didn't hesitate. He grabbed the smaller Mandalorian and hurled him across the room. The room was padded but it didn't matter. Siorc knew bones had broken with the force he put behind his attack and as Haro crumpled to the ground someone else knew. The door clicked open.

Reaching down, Siorc picked up his opponent and put him over his shoulder.

“Your hunt doesn't end here Mando’a”