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.

"Come on!" Haro looked on as two people, a Twi-lek and a Devaronian, fought inside the force field in the middle of the hangar. The Twi-lek was winning. "Come on," Haro muttered to himself again. He had bet ten thousand credits on the Devaronian, and the fight was not going favorably. Suddenly, down in the ring, the Devaronian finally landed a hit on the Twi-lek, knocking him to the ground. He tried to get up, but the Devaronian kept knocking him to the ground, until suddenly he was thrown backwards away from the Twi-lek.
"Hey!" The shout came from the hangar door. Haro looked and saw a figure in gray camouflaged robes stride into the hangar. "Stop this at once!" Haro scowled. He recognized the figure as a Jedi who had stolen his bounty almost a year before.
"What are you doing here?" Haro shouted down to the man. "This is a private area!"
"My business does not matter to the likes of you," the man shouted back. Haro tried to remember his name. Sandy? Centurio? Centam! Centam kept striding into the hangar, using the Force to keep the combatants apart. "Betting on fights is against the Jedi Code! These pirates should be arrested!"
"These pirates do not attack ships! All they do is arrange fights and profit from the bets! Also, I get paid a hundred credits a day for flying a cargo ship across the galaxy," Haro shouted back angrily. "What's wrong with trying to make a few extra credits in my spare time?"
"It's wrong!"
"Fine." Frustrated, Haro turned back to the other spectators. "If the fight's not going to finish, can I at least have my credits back?"
The Trandoshan leader smiled, and, in broken Basic, replied "Fight no finish, you no get money back."
"Fine." Haro sighed. "Then switch my bet to me to win." Turning to Centam, he shouted "I challenge you to a fight. Winner gets bragging rights. You accept?"
Indignantly, Centam replied "I do not brag. Bragging is against the Jedi Code!"
Haro sighed, exasperated. "Do you accept?"
The man scowled. "I accept, but we will fight with all of our weapons. And no dirty tricks!"
As they walked to the ring, the pirate captain smiled. "Me thank you for money!"
The previous combatants left the ring, and the two men entered. The fight was about to begin.

Haro ignited his lightsaber, the hilt held vertically and his body facing to the left of Centam. Centam left his lightsaber inactive, though he did hold it loosely in his right hand, placing his thumb near the activation. Just a few moments later, Haro stepped forward with his right leg, increasing his weapon's momentum as he slashed at Centam's face. Sensing the attack, Centam leaned back, the blue blade humming as it flew past his face. He did not, however, detect Haro's follow up move, and he grunted in surprise as he fell to the floor, his legs swept out from beneath him. Regaining his footing, Centam ignited his lightsaber just in time to block a heavy overhead slash. The two blades clashed, throwing off bright light where they intersected.

Some of the watching pirates mumbled at this, and a part of Centam's mind wondered if they had ever seen a lighsaber duel before. Shaking off his distraction, he stepped to the side and tilted his green blade, breaking free of the bind. Centam quickly counterattacked with a strike aimed at Haro's feet, but his opponent leapt over the blade and retaliated with a stab toward Centam's stomach. Centam brought his lightsaber up from the failed attack and swung it in a circle, forcing the blue blade away from its intended target.

Haro rolled forward under Centam's horizontal slash and came up behind him, then kicked Centam in the back. Centam fell forward and rolled as well, landing on his feet and turning toward Haro just in time to deflect a blaster shot that otherwise would have hit him in the face. The second blaster bolt froze in midair as Centam stepped to the side.

The pirates in line with the plasma bolt hurried out of the way as he released his hold on the projectile and moved toward Haro, deflecting two more shots. Realizing that a blaster wasn't useful at the moment, Haro, holstered the weapon and switched his lightsaber from his left hand, where it had been resting, to his right, and slashed at Centam's left side, throwing up a barrier to block Centam's retaliation.

Haro swung again at Centam, but his strike was blocked. Throwing up another barrier to block his retaliation, he readied his flamethrower. "Parry this, you filthy aruetii," he muttered under his breath as he sent a blast of flame towards the robed Jedi. Centam tried to leap out of the way, but a portion of his robe caught on fire. He patted it out, and then struck at Haro again, but Haro blocked it with his saber. He pulled out his blaster again and sent a rain of shots towards Centam, who blocked most of them. A few got through, but only one of them hit. Centam grimaced, but kept fighting, though slightly less powerfully. Haro risked a kick at his opponent, and Centam blocked it, though he didn't anticipate the follow-up strike at his head.

Haro rained down a flurry of strikes on Centam, who was blocking them as best he could. He was so focused on blocking the overhead strikes that he didn't notice another leg sweep until it was too late. Centam fell to the ground and crawled away to the corner of the arena, where he was able to stand up. He took a deep breath, regaining his composure. "This fight is pointless," he said, but Haro wasn't listening.

Centam pressed the offensive, aiming to disarm, not kill, his opponent. Haro threw up barriers quickly, but one of Centam's strikes got through, glancing off his vambrace and nicking his cybernetic arm. Haro tried to trap Centam in grappling hook wire, but Centam sliced through the wire just in time, earning him another few seconds of quiet.

Haro used this quiet to inspect his cybernetic arm, which had sparks flying from the nicked section. He had, apparently, lost the ability to bend the tip of his little finger. Though this wouldn't impede his fighting abilities, Haro felt a slight spark of anger rising within him.

Using this to fuel his blow, Haro swung with all his strength at Centam's head. The blue blade bounced off Centam's, which quickly moved into position to block a swing at his leg. Grunting, Haro swung his lightsaber at Centam's shoulders, and Centam barely managed to deflect it, holding his blade at an angle and dropping to one knee from the force of the blow.

Sensing his opponent's weakness, Haro began to attack more fiercly, amplifying his strength and dealing a flurry of blows that Centam somehow got his lightsaber in position to block. To the onlookers, it appeared as though he had several arms, each wielding their own lightsaber.

"How are you doing that?" Haro asked, frustration showing in his eyes as he glared at Centam. "How are you blocking me so quickly?"

"The Force... is my ally," Centam replied, gradually rising to his feet, sweat pouring down his face, "and a powerful... ally... it is."

This reminded Haro. Right, he thought, the Force. With a pulse of telekinetic energy, he sent Centam flying backward several meters and made him crash into the containment field.

As Centam attempted to rejoin the fight, Haro slowed him with the Force, but Centam shoved him in the chest, interrupting his concentration. Leaping across the hangar to land just meters away from Haro, he brought his lightsaber up to an angle, and waited for his opponent to regain his footing.

Haro got up and used the Force to send Centam flying. While Centam was still in the air, Haro ignited his jetpack and flew towards his opponent, slashing at him from midair. Centam fell to the ground and dodged the strike. "Is that the best you've got?" Centam asked, but found that his pause had cost him the upper hand. Dashing towards him, Haro pushed at Centam again with the Force, but he pushed back, negating the blast.

Caught in the lock caused by the conflicting blasts, Haro and Centam both pushed back, neither wanting to be the one to stop and be caught by the other's blast. This went on for a few seconds, but was broken when Haro twisted away and shot Centam's right arm, causing him to stop pushing and drop his saber. Haro deactivated his own blade, drew his kal, and attacked.

With no time to react, and stunned that Haro was able to get the jump on him, Centam had to rely on his own precognition to save him from the strikes. It was a few seconds later that Haro finally hit, slicing his left bicep.

Afraid he was going to die, Centam held up his hands in surrender. Quickly, he shouted "I relent!"

Haro replied "Good." Turning to the control booth, he shouted "How was that? Can I finally get my credits now?" He walked up to the pirates and claimed his credits, plus the bonus from the bet. The pirates looked on in awe, hardly daring to say a word. When Centam came to the booth, Haro said "Now will you let me earn extra credits in peace?"

Fatigued, Centam replied "Yes." Nervous, he said "w-will you let me have the honor of being your friend?"

Haro sighed, but replied "Sure." He reached out his arm, and Centam grasped it. "Friends."

Centam tried to think of something awesome to say, but eventually gave up, replying with a simple "Friends."

Getting to his feet, Haro snapped his lightsaber to life and swung at Centam's blade, tearing it from his opponent's hands and sending the hilt flying across the arena. He grinned as he saw Centam's eyes widen slightly. "What's the matter?" Haro joked, advancing toward Centam. "Scared?" With the last word he slashed with all his might, but was stopped solidly as Centam reached out with the Force and grabbed the fallen lightsaber, bringing it up just in time to block a blow that would have taken his head off.

"Not at all," Centam replied with a smile, stepping back and lowering his lightsaber suddenly. This caused Haro, who was pushing against Centam's blade with his, to be momentarily unbalanced as the extra applied force found no resistance. He twirled his lightsaber around and up, blocking a powerful overhead blow from Centam, who had continued the movement of his lightsaber into a loop and accelerated it in attack.

The blades bounced off each other, and Centam changed direction with a horizontal slice at waist level, his plasma blade moving so quickly that it became a green blur. It buzzed as it connected with Haro's reflexively generated barrier, which deflected it up and over his head. Thrown off balance, Centam was unable to completely avoid Haro's counterattack, a stab toward his abdomen which would have impaled Centam had he not stepped aside. Despite his best efforts, the thrust grazed his left side, sending a wave of pain through his body.

Grimacing, Centam dropped to one knee, his lightsaber falling to the floor as he clutched his side with his right hand. As Haro prepared the killing blow, he instead changed course, slicing into the floor just centimeters away from Centam's left foot and deactivating his lightsaber.

Reaching down, he gripped Centam by the upper arm and hauled him to his feet. "I'm not going to kill you," he said, handing Centam's lightsaber back to him. "I just needed to win."

Sending Centam on his way, Haro turned to collect his winnings.