Elevated over a ravine, the Massassi Arena has withstood the tests of time. It is arranged in a circular formation and made by a slab of stone that connects the opposite slopes of the ravine. On its eastern side, the floating arena leads to a staircase and into a near-vertical cliff face. Because of its nearly unsupported vantage that overlooks a several hundred-meter fall, even the smallest creatures can feel the occasional motion the platform makes as the breeze brushes across its cold surface.

Adding to the adrenaline rush of standing within the slab’s concentric patterns carved into the rock, barriers and obstacles echo the Massassi’s commitment to taking every advantage over their opponents. Pillars ring the outer edge without guardrails linking them, some remaining intact and others having toppled into the arena or over the perilous heights to the ground far below. Weeds and other flora cover each surface as nature seeks to reclaim the ravine and eventually send the arena itself to the depths.

A creaky rope-bridge leads away towards another ancient suspended platform with the same weathered, upturned stones. Mossy footing, and uneven ground make each of these platforms unique in small subtle ways. While there is no seating for formal spectators, the ancient stones of the Massassi Arena hold an omniscient, aged wisdom that speak to the things they have seen and the battles fought through history.

A third rope-bridge leads to yet another platform, completing the triad of battlegrounds that make up the Massassi Arena.

Centam sat at the center of a giant circular platform, his mind open to the Force. He could feel the slight vibrations of the platform as the wind blew past, and could hear the music of distant birds. This, he decided, was the most peaceful place he had been in a while.

Suddenly he felt it: a twinge in the Force. A warning.

Whirling around as he stood, he activated his lightsaber in time to direct a blaster bolt.

Looking up, he spotted where it had come from: a dark-haired man, one he had encountered very recently on a rescue mission. There, he had worked against Centam, attempting to keep him from succeeding, but Centam had swiftly defeated him.

"I demand a rematch," the man shouted. "Here and now."

"Here?" Centam said, raising an eyebrow. Any wrong move could send either one of them into the abyss. "Are you sure?"

"Here and now," he repeated, holstering his blaster and grabbing a lightsaber from his belt.

Centam thought it over. "Very well. I accept."

As the dark-haired man activated his own lightsaber, which had a blue blade, he started running toward Centam, his blade raised above his head and ready for an aggressive strike. Sliding to the side, Centam deflected his opponent’s blade away, leaving them off-balance, then struck at their arm in an attempt to injure them just enough to end the fight.

Instead, his enemy leapt to the side, catching Centam’s blade on theirs, then tried to twist it out of his hands. With just a thought, Centam used the Force to send his opponent flying backward.

With a short blast from their jetpack, they landed on their feet.

Haro reignited his kad'au, blocking another strike from the man, then began to press him back. He soon realized that the man was more competent with a lightsaber than he, and he deactivated his own blade, diving to the side in order to dodge another strike. He then whipped out his kal and slashed at the man's leg, but at the last second, he dodged, and the blade just nicked him.

Jumping to his feet, Haro drew his blaster and started firing at the man, but he blocked almost every shot. He dodged the few that got through his defenses, and they hit the platform, causing it to sway gently. Haro then pointed his left vambrace at him and ignited the flamethrower, but the man dodged, jumping backwards onto a pillar.

"It's over, whoever you are! I have the high gro - OOOFF!" the man said, getting hit by Haro's Force push and toppling off, using his jetpack in a burst to land on his feet.

Haro sent another wave of fire towards him before rolling a thermal detonator his way. Distracted by the fire, the man didn't notice the detonator until it blew, launching him off the platform, but he activated his jetpack and flew back. Haro ignited his own jetpack, taking the battle to the skies.

Fighting in midair, Haro pressed the attack. Pulling out his tracy’uur, he shot at the man repeatedly, after which he switched to his lightsaber. While switching, however, the man took the opportunity to slash at Haro, and severed one of his jetpack’s thrusters. Leaking fuel, the jetpack was suddenly crushed by the man using the Force and Haro fell.

Hurtling downwards, Haro managed to shrug off the jetpack, which exploded. The midair fight had led them away from over the arena, and Haro tried to angle himself back towards it. He missed, however, but had time to shoot his grappling line towards the platform. Thankfully, the line attached to the underside, and Haro swung back onto the platform, retracting the line. Thought the effort had put a terrible strain on his shoulder, he was relatively uninjured, but his shoulder protested angrily.

He pulled out his lightsaber just in time to meet the man, but instead of meeting the man’s blade with his own, Haro rolled to the side. The man, expecting to meet strong resistance, overbalanced and fell. Haro, now with the advantage, punched the man and slashed his leg again.

This time, the strike was successful.

Almost.

Even though Centam was disoriented from the punch, a warning from the Force still managed to make its way through the haze and alert him. Giving into the force of the blow and falling backwards, he rolled away from his attacker, causing the blade to barely nick the side of his leg. Pain threatened to spread throughout the affected area, but he used the Force to aid him in ignoring it, at least for now. He could give it his full attention after the battle was over.

Staying back, he frowned. He had been fighting sloppily. Normally, the threat of a thermal detonator would have caused him to dive away, but it had managed to blast him over the edge. He would also have been able to detect a slashing attack before it had begun.

It was time to put some more distance between him and his attacker.

Turning around, he sprinted for one of the bridges leading to the adjacent islands.

Once he had fallen back far enough, he turned to face his enemy. It seemed, however, that his strategic repositioning had led the attacker to believe that he had retreated.

Or so he thought.

The sound of a lightsaber igniting behind him caused him to whirl around. Somehow, the dark-haired man had managed to sneak up behind him.

Centam sighed. "You know you can't win," he said, trying to convince his enemy to surrender.

"I guess so," came the reply. Then his attacker sighed. "You know, I really don't know why I came here in the first place. I think you insulted me in some way? I'm not sure."

"Maybe," Centam said. "Whatever it was, the decision to come here was probably made in anger. It might be best to just forget about it and go our separate ways."

"Sure," said the man. Then he grinned. "I should have recognized you! I'm Haro. Haro Zylrun. It has been an honor to fight the esteemed Taldryan Gatekeeper."

The man cried out in pain, clutching his bleeding leg. Haro got to his feet, sheathing his knife, and pulled out his blaster.

“If you surrender now, you’re not going to get hurt anymore,” Haro said.

The man rose to a sitting position. “Then so be it.” He grabbed his saber with the Force and, activating it, lunged with the aid of his jetpack towards Haro.

Dodging to the side and deflecting a stroke, Haro pulled out his blaster as the man passed and shot the jetpack, which emitted a gout of burning fuel from a new hole. The man shrugged off his jetpack and advanced, limping, towards Haro. When he was only a few feet away, Haro attacked. He had not been using all his skill earlier, but he was now.

He struck again and again, giving the man no time to even think about counterattacking. Barely pausing to catch a breath, he drove the man back and up one of the rope bridges connecting to another platform. When they were halfway across, Haro slashed through the bridge and Force jumped back to the first platform. Turning, he saw that the man had done the same, but to the other platform.

Haro shot at the man with his vambraces, and the man blocked and redirected most of them. One shot hit his leg, right above the kal wound, causing him to fall to one knee. Afraid he was going to lose the leg if the fighting continued, the man cried, “Stop! I yield, I yield!”

Haro lowered his bracers but, unconvinced, replied “Then drop your lightsaber.”

The man complied, setting it down and backing away. The fight was over.