Built from the shell of an ancient foundation, the Arx Colosseum has undergone renovations to allow multiple new configurations for battle. Its spectator setup remains largely the same, with high walls, tall enough for even the most savvy Jedi to find unscalable that lead up to spectator chairs which are divided into nearly organized sections to accommodate several thousand people. At the center, an elongated platform “box” contains a central throne of stone with various seats of smaller scale lined beside it in both directions. Two large holo-projection screens are set up on each side of the Colosseum, offering different angles of the match bia holocam drones.

Today’s setup is known as The Shanty Town.

Hundreds of shipping containers line the arena floor, some stacked tall, others singular obstacles forming the walls of a complex maze. Each has been converted to function as housing, windows, doors, even furnishments added to further sell the illusion of it being a living town.

While the only real life contained within is today’s combatants, that is far from the only level of danger found within.

Dozens of armed and battle-ready droids hide in wait. Turrets and barricades line the narrow passageways of the town. Expertly hidden mines wait to trigger with every step. Make no mistake, the Shanty Town is ready to kill all who enter it. Embracing its chaos, and surviving is no easy feat.

It ended with the thump of a mine detonating in the distance. The crowd, dismayed at watching a second match cut short in as many hours, murmured with impatience as the Colosseum’s recovery teams entered the arena to retrieve the dead or wounded combatants and reset for the next round.

Lord Dacien Victae, Grand Master of the Brotherhood, lounged on the stone throne overlooking the floor, his chin resting on his right fist as the fingers of his left hand tapped the arm of the throne with an agitated rhythm.

“Perhaps you made the arena a bit too dangerous, Iddy,” Dacien mused. “Not the most exciting start to your tournament.”

Idris Aden, Voice of the Brotherhood, seated to Dacien’s right, sighed from within his beskar helmet. “I haven’t even had a chance to test out the droids because this bantha fodder keeps stumbling over the karking mines.” Idris shook his head in disappointment. “Maybe we need to shake it up and get some more experienced fighters in there. Elders. They should know enough to avoid killing themselves so they can focus on killing each other.”

Dacien nodded, a grin spreading on his face as he stood suddenly. “I absolutely agree. Find me a worthy opponent.” With that, he stepped up on the edge of the balcony and then dropped dozens of feet to the floor of the arena. Looking back up at the stunned occupants of the balcony, he reached out with the Force and called his dual lightsabers down to him, clipping them to his belt.

“Go get me some of my knives, I might have a use for them,” Dacien yelled up at his Voice, who quickly ushered a Royal Guardsman off to collect the Grand Master’s arsenal as Dacien strode off into the Shanty Town.

A short time later, having retrieved his weapons and other gear, Dacien sat perched on the roof of a container near the center of the arena, idly triggering nearby mines with flashes of Force lightning, when Idris announced his opponent over the arena’s comm system: Eminent Kael, a human mercenary well-versed in close combat and specially trained to fight Force users.

About time, Dacien thought, reaching out with the Force to locate his new enemy who chose that very moment to announce his presence with the sharp crack of blaster fire.

Dacien leapt into action, vaulting from atop the container and easily—though narrowly—avoiding Kael’s opening salvo. He landed on the ground in a cloud of dust, lightsaber in hand, and ignited it with a snap hiss casting a crimson glow on the motes of dust around him.

Good shot Dacien sent telepathically, tinging his message with an air of menace. “You’ll have to do better, though, if you want to make it out of here in one piece,” he shouted in the direction he sensed Kael.

Dacien strode towards his opponent, who remained hidden from view by dilapidated towers of containers. Suddenly, four containers, evenly spaced around the site of the confrontation, blew wide open and four imposing B3 Battle Droids emerged. The droids took a moment to analyze the scene and acquire their targets, then opened fire with a withering barrage.

Kael sprinted to the next point of cover, quickly holstering his Westar-35 even as he unslung the Merr-Son SX-21 from his back. Dust and debris flew through the air from the mines the Grand Master had been toying with. The mercenary had intended to use his opponent’s visual impairment to his advantage. Instead, he was narrowly dodging the incoming fire of the battlefield’s B3 Battle Droids. One located him, opening fire with its wrist-mounted blasters, tracking his movements.

“Make a name for yourself, it's just a tournament, what’s the worst that could happen?” The words of his employer echoed in his mind, knowing that Ikarri was somewhere in the stands watching his duel with the Grandmaster. With a grimace, he raised his left arm to cover his face as an incoming blaster bolt struck his armor’s shielding and dispersed. He quickly dove into a forward roll, coming up directly underneath the towering B3 Droid. Hefting the Merr-Son to his shoulder, a succession of blasts tore the droid apart, sending shrapnel flying as it finally tilted and fell.

Even as he drew to his feet, he quickly turned, watching the environment clear as the Dacien stood unmoving, the last of the B3 droids suspended in mid-air, the Sith’s eyes curious as he looked it over.

“Not bad, a few upgrades. I see Zxyl made some modifications for the tournament.” With an almost casual swipe of his lightsaber, he removed the droid’s head and sent its body sprawling with a flick of his wrist.

Kael didn’t wait for the Grand Master to notice him. From his kneeling position, he aimed, shouldering the Merr-Son. Despite the weapon's extreme range, he began firing at a practiced pace. Each time the scatter blaster fired, he adjusted for the recoil, completed the pump action to prepare another shot, and released.

The hail of bolts sent toward Dacien was well-placed. Kael’s tireless training allowed him to compensate for the distance to the best of his ability, attempting to give the Sith too many projectiles to simply deflect. To his disappointment, the Grandmaster simply raised his open hand, a translucent barrier shimmering as the cascading bolts of crimson fire struck the barrier and either dissipated entirely or were deflected.

Kael let off the trigger as he realized the futility of the frontal assault, the Sith’s blue-gray eyes appearing almost amused. Before the mercenary could get to his feet, he felt a sudden pulling sensation as the scattergun was pulled forward, the sling around his body dragging him along with the rifle toward the Grand Master.

Without a second thought, Kael smoothly drew one of the Amethyst Kukri from his belt and cut the rifle free. Watching as it suddenly picked up speed, another flick of the GM’s wrist sent it hurtling into a nearby durasteel container, the weapon crumpling on impact from the pressure of the Grand Master’s will.

His free hand drew the Westar-35. The comfortable grip of the pistol in his hand was almost soothing. In the span of a single heartbeat, he spotted, aimed, and fired. Dacien, lifting his lightsaber to deflect, was surprised when the bolt went wide. A moment later, the Grand Master’s senses warned him of danger behind him. Another hastily raised barrier protected him from the resulting explosion of the mine; the blaster triggering it only a few feet behind him to his right.

Kael didn’t waste any time. Sprinting as quickly as he could to get out of sight, he maneuvered to place several layers of containers between him and the Grand Master. A part of him knew that Dacien was simply toying with him for the crowd’s entertainment. But he also recognized that one of the few chances he had of escaping this encounter alive was to try and impress the Sith Lord.

Turning another corner, Kael barely had time to react as the large shipping container beside him began to move, the sand and dirt of the pit slowing it only momentarily as an invisible force slammed against it. The mercenary leapt upwards, his left foot catching the moving container in a twisting wall jump as he barely cleared the height of the wall before it slammed into the opposite side of the alley.

Though he avoided being crushed by the container, he landed hard on his back, the wind momentarily knocked out of him as he looked up to the sky. His helmet’s internal dampening system muffled the sound of the crowd’s roaring cheers.

“That is more like it,” he heard the smooth, almost sinister voice in his mind. On instinct, Kael started to roll away, unsure of what to expect from the unnaturally powerful Sith he faced. Even as he came to his feet, he felt the charged air around him, the crackle of electricity. Every instinct told him to run. Before he could move a muscle, pressure weighed down on him, the Grandmaster holding him in place, an invisible hand pinning him even as the charge of electricity grew into a cascade. Lightning began to dance along the metal container’s frame before gathering into a hail of light that struck the mercenary square on.

As he flew backward, he could barely register the fall as the cascade of pain, numbness, and pressure nearly forced him to black out. His body came to a sudden jarring halt as he crashed through the side of an upper-level container wall, sending him out of view as the stadium erupted with a chorus of cheers and gasps.

Kael awoke with a start, instinctively reaching to his belt for a weapon, but found his hands were firmly held to his sides by an invisible Force. A quick test confirmed that his legs were similarly locked in place but his neck retained its full range of motion—enough for him to glance down at the twenty feet of open air below him. Breathing heavily within his helmet, he tried to look around for any sign of his opponent.

Dacien sat cross-legged on the ground behind Kael, eyes closed in a meditative trance. As he sensed Kael’s return to consciousness and building anxiety, Dacien opened his eyes and looked up at the back of the mercenary he held dangling in the air. “Welcome back,” the Grand Master said in a soft tone that somehow thundered in Kael’s ears. “I wasn’t sure you would make it, even with that armor. Most people don’t get back up.”

Kael barked out a rueful laugh, wincing to himself as it sparked a flash of pain in his torso. “I’m not sure this counts as ‘getting back up.’” He took a few calming breaths and then risked the question burning him up inside: “What now?”

Dacien, still seated, nodded to himself in satisfaction. This one has grit. Without uttering a word, Dacien impressed two options in Kael’s mind: Fight or die.

Kael clenched his teeth and steeled himself; there was no choice. “I’ll fight.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, Kael began to rotate to face the Grand Master behind him, who slowly rose to his feet. At the same time, five mines rose in a semi-circle flanking the grinning Dacien. “Then let’s get started.”

In an instant, Kael regained control of his limbs and dropped to the ground, managing to land into a roll and come up running, if somewhat unsteadily, toward the nearest container. He drew his Westar and fired off rapid shots to try and force Dacien to focus on defense long enough to gain some cover.

As he neared the container, he saw a flash of movement across his visor followed by a massive explosion which hurled him back several feet. He just barely managed to control his fall and made it back onto his feet quickly, grimacing against the pain. The container was gone. In its place was a smoking crater. Kael turned slowly towards Dacien, who now strode slowly and deliberately towards him, lightsaber ignited in his right hand. Four mines remained.

Kael grit his teeth through the pain as he raised his pistol and fired several more shots, growling in annoyance as the Grandmaster batted each one aside. The mercenary did everything he could to clear his mind, ticking down the seconds as the seemingly impervious Sith drew closer. It took every ounce of his willpower not to glance down at the object he’d dropped when Dacien had freed him, doing his best to ensure the Sith couldn’t glimpse his intentions.

Finally, he threw the blaster down, drawing the two Amethyst Kukri from his belt, his very appearance and body language giving off a resigned air. Dacien slowed for a moment; though the Grandmaster was confident in his abilities, he wasn’t a fool either. Unfortunately, that wasn’t enough to stop what happened next.

The Gravity Grenade Kael had armed and dropped during his fall, triggered a sudden burst of energy outward and then rushed back to the center point between the two. Kael’s attempt at finding cover gave him only a momentary edge in the distance from the center of the sudden gravity well. Dacien resisted the pull, drawing on the Force to ground himself, though he felt himself sliding toward the epicenter. Despite the Grandmaster's incredible talent, he lost concentration on the mines he’d had circling himself.

The explosives flew directly to the center of the field, making contact with one another and exploding in a massive conflagration concentrated in place by the gravity well. Dacien felt the heat and watched as the two opposing forces clashed for a heartbeat in the center of the arena. Then his unnatural senses flared a warning as he watched the gravity well give way and the rippling cascade of fire and heat burst outward.

Through that flame came the form of the Mandalorian mercenary, thrown toward Dacien by the effect of the grenade. His body was covered in flames as his armor seemed to shine with the very fire of its namesake, the Phoenix. Kael came rolling through, his first swing driving for his opponent's right ankle even as the second blade darted upward, aiming for the Sith’s inner thigh.

Despite the Mandalorians impressive training and speed, Dacien moved with a swiftness born of not only years of training but also forces beyond Kael’s understanding. Shifting his weight in an instant, he stepped back, narrowly avoiding both blades by a hair's breadth, and in response brought his lightsaber down in a blur of motion aimed for his opponent's neck.

Even as the brilliant energy of the lightsaber drew near, Kael drew his hand back, covering his neck and shoulder while clenching his fist to activate the gauntlet on his wrist. A clear shimmering field erupted from the shield generator contained within. The lightsaber made contact, shattering the field but deflecting the blade away momentarily.

Even as Kael felt the blow land, he drove the Kukri in his opposite hand up toward the Sith’s stomach, determined that if he was going to die, he wanted to at least leave an impression. He felt the muscles in his legs, shoulder, and arm strain nearly to the point of snapping as he drove the blade forward with all the strength he had left.

The blade tore through the fabric of the Grandmaster's cloak, and with a grin hidden only by his helmet, the Mandalorian expected to feel the parting of flesh. Instead, he found himself suddenly and jarringly paralyzed in place. The Grandmaster held the lightsaber crackling next to the Mandalorians throat, his free hand spread wide as he exerted the full extent of his control within the Force to not only slow the mercenary's movements but also ground his momentum under the weight of Dacien’s will.

The two stayed like that for a heartbeat before Kael felt the power controlling his movements give way. He stayed perfectly still, knowing he’d played his last trick to avoid his opponent's lightsaber. The blood rushed in his ears, his heart pounding as he began to listen to the environment around him. The crowd was on their feet, shouting and cheering the explosive finish to the duel. He looked up and saw Dacien’s contemplative gaze as they locked eyes through his visor.

“Seems you’ve gotten their attention. It would be a disappointment to waste someone of your talents.” Dacien’s voice was loud enough for Kael to hear, but nearly drowned out by the volume of the crowd. The lightsaber deactivated as Dacien took a step back. Kael bowed his head, acknowledging his defeat and the mercy shown by his opponent.