Arx’s Colosseum is a monument to the original Petranaki arena on Geonosis, the site where the Clone Wars began with an epic clash between Jedi and Sith. However, instead of confining itself to a decrepit ruin, the Colosseum stands as an example of what the Geonosian arena once was.

Walls tall enough to be unscalable for even the most practiced Force-user surround a theatre the size of a holoball field, floored with sandy soil. Above, rows of seats are packed together into sections for spectators to observe the carnage. The dignitaries who preside over the gladiator matches instead find themselves in an elongated platform “box”, with the large stone throne reserved for the most prestigious among them, flanked by smaller seats for their companions. Large holo-projection screens occupy each of the Colosseum’s walls, displaying images of the combat below streamed by the cam droids that circle the arena.

The arena floor itself is, naturally, more dangerous than it appears. A wide assortment of traps are concealed beneath the dirt and sand, including but not limited to: retractable fire-spewing nozzles, power coils firing bolts of lightning, electrified floor panels, deadfalls lined with spikes, and even obelisks that simply erupt from the ground. These traps are operated by sentient technicians in the Colosseum’s control room, well away from the fighting.

You and another member of the Brotherhood have been tasked by the Headmistress of the Shadow Academy with gathering research data on a wide variety of dangerous creatures. In addition to the normal raucous crowds, sophisticated scanning equipment has been set up around the Colosseum floor to monitor the creatures’ behavior and vital signs under a variety of circumstances—including combat and injury.

Your goal in this scenario is twofold: provoke the creatures and hold their attention for long enough that the Shadow Academy scanners can collect a wide variety of physiological data, and prevent the creatures from destroying the scanning equipment placed in the Colosseum by the Academy researchers. Once those tasks are complete, you will be free to leave the arena (if you can) and claim your reward.

The Headmistress would strongly prefer the creature be left alive and useful after the experiment is finished. She would also "prefer" that you not interfere with the research by attempting to rescue the creature, but you may do so at your own peril.

Granta Prackx much preferred to work on her own. That was one of the many reasons that she gave when asked why she was not part of any of the Brotherhood’s Cclans. In truth, this actually made things a little easier for the Headmaster. Clan allegiance often got in the way when the Shadow Academy was in need of assistance from more experienced members of the Brotherhood.

For this particular mission, Prackx had been paired with a man who identified himself as ‘Corvo’. A brief discussion en-route to Arx revealed that he was part of Clan Naga Sadow, one of the Clans that Granta knew very little about.

“You’re probably going to have to do most of the dirty work here. You’ve probably been fighting for longer than I’ve even been alive,” Corvo stated stoically.

“What’s that blaster for? Decoration?” Prackx snapped back, gesturing to the X-8 holstered on Corvo’s hip.

“True, but this weapon is all I’ve got. You’re armed to the teeth and that’s without counting on whatever it is you can do with the Force. I certainly wouldn’t rate my chances against you,” the Chiss declared.

“Few do. Even fewer survive. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to let you sit back and make me do all the work. “Besides, it’s suicide to attempt to get too close to a wyyyschokk. One of my Imperial manuals designates them among the most dangerous species in the galaxy. I think it’s absolute madness that the Headmaster wants to study the thing,”

“You have your manual, that’s good. I’ve come to a similar conclusion through my own studies. I propose we stay well back at all times and distract it with long-rang blaster fire. As we don’t want to risk killing it, don’t aim at it, but instead aim near it. Can you disable that silencer?” Corvo asked, gesturing at the Sith’s DLT-20A.

“Not without assistance from someone who does more than just fire the thing. Shall we actually get started now? From what I’ve been told, they were insane enough to sell tickets for this. The whole thing’s probably live on every holoscreen in the system,” Pracx announced irritably.

For once, the large Sith had elected against wearing her heavy armour. Instead, she donned her old Imperial military uniform. Though her sheer size made her look intimidating to most. The fact that she also still carried her full arsenal of weapons left Corvo unsure if he was supposed to feel safe, or scared.

“Do you know if anyone’s operating the traps today? My briefing didn’t touch upon that point,” the Sadowan asked.

“If they are, I will deal with them once we’ve got the data that Tearnan is after. So let’s hope not,” the Juggernaut answered. The gate blocking access to the arena slid open, and the two unusual companions wasted no time in moving forward. They immediately noticed the scanning equipment that Ciara had mentioned, They then spotted an almost complete capacity crowd.

“Ladies, and gentlemen! Today we bring you a very special event!” a voice yelled over the announcement system.

“Seriously? They better have a damn good explanation for making such a fuss of this!” Granta hissed.

“Simple things entertain simple minds, Ms. Prackx. We do our job, and some of these baying idiots will treat us like heroes for it. I hope you’re ready to sign a few autographs once we’re finished,” Corvo responded.

“Let’s first introduce today’s team! Representing Clan Naga Sadow, his skin is blue, his eyes are red. Look at him wrong and you’ll be dead! Give a big round of applause for Surec'or'vosen!” the announcer continued.

“Remind me. Does the mission brief say anything about keeping the arena staff alive?” the Sadowan questioned.

“And representing, well, herself.his giant woman, she loves to fight, just don’t run into her at night! Let’s hear it for Granta Prackx!”

“Yeah. When we’ve got what the Headmaster wants, I think we need to schedule a little interview with that loud mouth,” Prackx snarled. She even considered just aiming her sniper rifle for the commentary box, but couldn’t predict exactly how the crowd would take to such an eventuality.

“And all the way from the forests of Kashyyyk, something so dangerous that even the Wookiees think twice, we have today’s critter of death! Ladies and gentleman, we have a wyyyschokk!”

As the announcer finished introducing the large spider, another gate slid open and the wyyyschokk bounded into the arena. The crowd, already excited, cheered louder than ever. The new arrival started to survey the scene, and at one stage appeared to be looking for a way to simply scale the arena walls and feast upon members of the crowd.

“Let’s get this started!” Granta yelled, quickly grabbing her DLT-20A and firing a shot just behind the wyyyschokk. This was enough to drag the creature out of its musings about the crowd and instead focus on a more immediate threat.

The creature turned around to investigate the noise. Corvo, seeing this as his cue, fired his own blaster, this time a few feet to the left of the Wyyyschokk. As it moved to check out the new noise, Prackx called over her droid, which had been quietly hovering away as she and Corvo had discussed the situation.

“Give that thing something to chase,” she ordered, pointing at the wyyyschokk.

The jet black ID10 beeped in compliance and sped off, trying its best to get the spider’s attention. As it did so, it performed a few scans of its own, relaying the info to Granta’s datapad.

“An interesting tactic indeed, Ms. Prackx. I just hope you’re prepared to replace your droid,” Corvo declared.

“Don’t think I didn’t see you with that bird. We’re going to need as many distractions as possible,” the Sith responded.

“I will use In’han when I believe the time is right,” the Chiss protested.

The wyyyschokk cast webbing directly at Prackx’s droid, which attempted to evade capture by climbing high into the air. It was not fast enough, however, and the extreme edge of the webbing landed a glancing blow, damaging some of the droid’s casing. Prackx fired her blaster again, the shot landing directly in front of the creature.

“How long do we need to keep this up for?” the female asked.

“Until the scanners have collected enough data. Quite how much is ‘enough’ is not something I was given specifics about,” Corvo replied.

Granta did not like that answer. She had found the entire affair to be full of requests that were very vague in substance, even with the specifics that the wyyyschokk was not to be killed. Even with a teammate who had developed a seemingly sound approach, not simply despatching the threat was not how the Juggernaut liked to operate.

Prackx’s droid zoomed away, the wyyyschokk in hot pursuit. Both humanoids took the opportunity to shoot again, their well-coordinated shots kicking up enough dust to cause their target to stop its pursuit of the ID10 droid and instead try to ascertain exactly what was happening. It was then that it spotted Granta and her companion, its jet black eyes regarding the pair.

“I think it’s figuring us out. What’s the plan now?” Granta demanded.

Corvo offered a sneer as his red eyes danced over the creature and its clapping mandibles. "Evasion, Ms. Prackx." 

Bounding forward, the beast's legs pierced the sands of the Arx arena. A cloud of dust kicked up in its wake as it rapidly shortened the distance between itself and its potential meal. The crowd roared louder, a seemingly impossible feat until it happened, chanting as they watched the wyyyschokk on the prowl. With predatory intent, it remained cautious as it shifted left and right, avoiding a volley of bolts as if it had a sixth sense.

I wonder what type of experiments were run on this creature, the torment, the suffering it had to endure. Corvo scanned his environment, releasing light blue bolts into the arena, they lacked any semblance of precision but possessed possibilities. A pillar to the right, Corvo began to analyze his surroundings, a vantage point for Granta, I could reach the top but the climb would take too much time, the Chiss rolled to the side, pressing his back against it. 

"Ms. Prackx," when she snapped her attention in response to his raised voice, Corvo flicked his eyes upward and she immediately picked up on his suggestion.

The Force flowed through the human's body, filling her already muscular legs as if they were wells of energy. Before they burst, she released it, and the dispersion erupted with a propulsion that carried her to the top. 

Corvo squeezed off another round and was amazed that the spider was able to evade. It hissed as it flattened its body to let the shot sail by and as it pushed up, its mandibles clacked and a sticky enzyme ensnared Corvo's hand, pinning it against the pillar. 

"Ohhhh," shouted the commentator, "The blue one is in a bind!" 

It's clever, I respect that. Corvo grunted in struggle. The spider closed in, but before it could capitalize, a robotic scream signaled the return of Prackx's ID-10. The black droid zipped by, driving its body into the wyyyschokk just as it leapt, knocking it off course. 

Granta nod her head in approval and looked down at Corvo who had been clawing at the webbing around his wrist. She was clearly annoyed, an emotion that increased with rapidity as the angered specimen started layering the arena with its sticky contents.

"Wonderful," she barked, "This is becoming a nightmare that I can't wake from."

"Ms. Prackx, look!" Corvo shouted, as in that moment, a series of sensors rose from the bowels of the arena. They were specifically aligned with the lenses aimed at one another. "It looks like we'll need to keep it inside that triangulation."  

"Is that all?" Granta sarcastically replied as the beast, again, tried to scurry towards them. Aiming her palm at the creature, it momentarily struggled against an unseen obstacle before it lost its footing entirely and was sent into a roll. 

Again, it leapt up, again it charged, only to be hurled back to the center.

"Granta!" Corvo shouted, "Keep it up, I have an idea." 

The large woman's blue eyes rolled at the notion.

"These creatures have feeding pens, when it was released, it was housed in one."

"If we can get that pen to the center of the sensor grid, we can not only give our beloved Headmistress her biological readings, but we can put this thing to the test. It's smart, Granta, we shouldn't underestimate it." 

"I shouldn't be underestimated!" Granta shouted as she unleashed another torrent of energy. However, just as Corvo had forewarned, this animal was learning as it leapt into the air and scurried across a cluster of webbing it spread earlier in what was thought to be rage. 

I think it has been strategizing. Corvo was intrigued. It seemed to be an intelligent creature, but was it a natural intelligence or the product of experimentation? Corvo could see now, why the Headmistress was compelled to study these beasts. He pondered the possibilities of having a genetically modified army as he watched the creature spinning it's trap. 

"Now's my chance," Corvo said before charging towards the feeding pen. Several meters stood between himself and his destination, getting snatched up or ensnared were quite plausible as he bolted. The predator instantly noticed the movement and pursued, flinging webbing that hit behind Corvo as he entered a full sprint. 

Granta, growing tired of this whole 'mission' leapt from pillar to pillar as if they were purposely aligned with the creature's travel path. 

The crowd roared louder. 

Prackx had been completely caught off guard by just how intelligent the wyyyschokk was turning out to be. Once she and Corvo had agreed on their plan of action, the Sith had been expecting a fairly easy time of it, but things had not turned out so simply. Worse, the crowd observing the situation seemed to be enjoying themselves, either oblivious or apathetic to the fact that the wyyyschokk could potentially devour any of them were it to break loose.

Granta was relatively safe as long as she stayed atop the series of pillars, but her continued tapping into the Force was starting to catch up with her. She did her best to stay close to Corvo, as he continued to run away from the wyyyschokk, but the Sadowan’s movements were difficult to predict; Prackx suspected this was a deliberate move to keep the predator guessing.

Corvo was starting to find it hard to keep up the pace. He usually favoured keeping well back, as he had originally advocated, or even simply having others do the actual fighting, but now, forced as he was to exert himself physically, was finding his energy reserves were not the equal to the sharpness of his mind. He needed to think of something else, and fast, or he would find himself at the mercy of the giant spider that continued to give chase, shooting more and more webbing in the general direction of the Chiss.

Prackx continued to watch the situation unfold, briefly considering if she should even care if the wyyyschokk was to catch Corvo. She had certainly left allies with much closer ties behind in much less dangerous situations, but something told her that neither the Headmaster nor the Consul of Naga Sadow would be very impressed if the mission ended with Corvo’s death.

The female extracted her WESTAR-M5 from its sling and, after quickly adjusting its settings to put it in burst mode, fired several blaster bolts in the general area around the wyyyschokk. The creature stopped its pursuit of Corvo, and turned its attention to the new scorch marks on the arena floor. Prackx fired again, this time angling her shots in an attempt to draw the spider towards her location.

Very risky, Ms. Prackx Corvo thought, still panting from his run. He had to admit however that the tactic freed him up to begin an attempt to move the feeding pen into position.

Prackx continued firing her blaster to lure the wyyyschokk towards herself, each shot drawing it closer. In almost no time at all, it was almost directly below her. Reaching the pillar, the wyyyschokk briefly examined the structure, as if trying to work out if the pillar itself was responsible for the blaster fire.

Corvo reached the feeding pen that the creature had been housed in before its release. He saw at once that it was firmly bolted to the walls and floor, dashing his hopes of moving it. The Chiss wasn’t about to be defeated, however, and he turned his attention to his colleague. He had an idea, but only Prackx would be able to do what he had in mind.

Granta waited at the top of her pillar as the wyyyschokk continued its attempts to find the source of the blaster fire. Its two front legs were rubbing the bottom of the pillar, but as it quickly became apparent that the pillar was inanimate, it turned its sights upwards, finally spotting the giant female. It began to attempt to scuttle up the pillar, but as it began its ascent, the Sith again knocked it back with the Force.

Falling back to the ground, the spider was clearly in the mood for more and began another attempt to climb, only to again be knocked downwards. This time, however, the force of the blow was not quite as hard as before. Realising that she would not be able to endlessly repel the creature, the Juggernaut leapt from her vantage point, the Force helping her to land safely on the ground. She sprinted away from the wyyyschokk as it scaled the pillar, now totally unimpeded.

“Our arachnid friend is just too late to that party!” the commentator announced as the spider reached the top but found Granta was gone.

“Nice of you to join me down here, Ms. Prackx,” Corvo stated as he moved to join his teammate.

“We need to keep moving. New plan?” Prackx demanded.

“I couldn’t move the feeding pen. It’s bolted in place and I have no way of removing the bolts. Then I remembered that you’ve got the right tool for that particular job,” the Chiss explained, gesturing to his partner’s lightsaber.

“Right, I’ll cut it free. You keep that thing busy,” Granta stated simply, moving immediately to perform the task.

As she moved through the arena, Prackx noticed that the areas of the arena that were covered in webbing were difficult to move through easily. She was still not entirely sure that Corvo’s plan was going to work, but the former Imperial didn’t have any better ideas. She just wanted Ciara, or another Shadow Academy official to come and end the charade, which was proving far much more trouble than it was ever going to be worth.

Corvo had taken to the tactic of hiding behind a pillar, firing his blaster roughly in the direction of the wyyyschokk, then moving to another pillar so that the creature couldn’t actually see him. He chose to avoid the web covered areas completely, fearing that he lacked the strength to free himself.

Granta reached the feeding pen and quickly identified the sets of bolts and brackets that had prevented Corvo from carrying out his plan. It was no trouble at all for her lightsaber to dissolve the brackets and free the cage, but the cage was still going to be very awkward to move even for somebody with as much strength as Prackx.

Meanwhile, Corvo continued to dart between pillars, but his earlier running had drained a lot more of his energy reserves than he’d bargained for.

Get that cage moved, Ms. Prackx!