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.

The warm night air was like an oppressive wall as Selika stepped out from the climate controlled waiting area into the open arena proper. The roar of what remained of the crowd mixed with the humid air to create a most oppressive atmosphere. Most of the spectator's lust for violence had been satisfied by the day's blood sport, leaving only those who were the most dedicated left in attendance. Bright lights circled the arena edge, painting the assembled shipping containers in alternating pools of stark brightness and inky black.

Checking the saber at her hip one last time, Selika strode forward towards the arena center. The dusty earth beneath her feet released the smell of petrichor with each step, the telltale sign of a recent rain shower that had passed over the arena earlier in the day. Selika had never liked Uskil and the weather that came with it. It wasn't nearly as bad here on the southern island compared to the north, but the climate coupled with frequent rains made one feel like everything was just a hair's breadth away from an outbreak of mildew. Selika's senses could feel the swirling energy of another approaching storm blowing its way inland from the shallow, swampy sea to the north. The rain would come again, sooner rather than later, and in greater amounts than the short sprinkling that had, so far, left the arena only slightly damp.

Putting that out of her mind, Selika focused on her more immediate surroundings. The ersatz town formed of various shipping containers was somewhat the worse for wear as a result of the combat it had already seen earlier in the tournament. Blaster scorch marks marred the brightly painted walls, some of the furniture within having been broken or even burned. Here and there were the dark, brown-red remnants of spilled blood that had accumulated without removal with each additional match. Selika mused to herself that, at this point, she wouldn't have been surprised to see a stray appendage left behind.

As she reached the false town's central square, she confidently strode to a position at its center and stopped. Having arrived at her goal Selika waited, wanting to be seen. Stretching her Force sense out around her, she could feel the incoherent background roar of the minds of the assembled crowd. Narrowing her perceptions to eliminate the crowd beyond, she concentrated her attention on the arena floor around her. Several minutes passed, Selika breathing evenly with eyes closed. There was the hint of someone there, like a voice whispering just quietly enough that you couldn't make out the words. Then, suddenly, a feeling of confident satisfaction blazed out of the darkness around her accompanied by one thought.

Gotcha, she heard in her opponent's mind.

The Force flowed through Selika's body as she whirled on her heel to face the threat. At the same time a bright blue blaster shot leapt towards her, originating from a spot atop one of the taller stacks of crates halfway across the arena. The angry bolt intersected with the bracer Selika wore on her forearm as her arm moved into position to protect her face, the shot bouncing away with a metallic tang. Unhurt, Selika could still feel the heat of the bolt on her face as it ricocheted off her armor mere inches away.

"There you are, Hevan," Selika said with a smile. Selika could feel her adversary moving, a mixture of adrenaline and fear driving his muscles as he relocated from his first ambush position.

Before Selika could move to pursue, a trio of B1 battle droids stepped out from positions behind crates all around her. Obviously having been alerted by the blaster shot that had burned its way into one of the metal crate walls, all three raised their weapons and opened fire. Selika's saber leapt from its place on her belt to her hand, igniting almost before she had secured the weapon in her grip. The automatic blaster fire lit the square with a red glare, some missing the elder all together as others were intercepted by her saber blade. Sending a few of the blaster bolts back to where they came with her own blade, Selika made short work of the three outdated combat droids as each fell in turn as their own fire burned its way into their chests.

"Pathetic," Selika scoffed, ready to turn her attention back to her true objective.

"You know, you're right," came a voice from the comlink on her wrist.

"Idris?" Selika asked, wondering what the Voice was doing on her com channel. "I guess this is what I get for using an Inquisitorius issued comlink."

"Quite," Idris answered. "I should have known that the Droid Queen of the Brotherhood would make short work of a few old clankers. Oh wait, I did."

"What are you talking about?" Selika demanded, angry at the amusement evident in the Councilor's tone.

"Let's just say I was saving these for the right person," Idris explained. "It wouldn't be exactly sporting for you to face threats that weren't exactly threatening, now would it? Have fun!"

Before Selika had a chance to respond, the sound of clanking metal parts filled the silence behind her.

It almost sounds like wheels, Selika thought with dread, turning to face the oncoming sound.

A pair of droids rolled into the square, uncurling into an upright position as they did. Their shields leapt into being around them, bathing the pair of droidekas in a pale blue glow.

"Sithspit," Selika swore as she moved her saber to intercept the torrents of blaster fire that flowed out of the twin destroyer droids.

"Language!" mocked the voice of Idris one last time, the com channel closing with a click.

Hevan looked over from a vantage point, already high above the Dread Lord. He scaled up higher, not in any sense wishing to feel the heat of Selika’s blade, hoping to get to a more… strategic position.

Turning, he saw Selika blocking the shots, but he knew she would tire. All humans would, but the droids would never even slow as long as they had power, they would eventually overwhelm their target. Hevan hesitated, debating on what to do. Save the dread lord but feel her wrath, or let her die and feel the hammer of Plagueis upon him.

He cursed, contacting the dread lord on his Inquisitorius comlink, setting his rifle for a shot as he did so. “M’lady, fall back. I’ll cover your back.”

Left with little alternative, Hevan watched Selika carefully move back along the street, blocking shots as she did so. The droids followed, somewhat less carefully than the human, stabbing the ground with their pointed legs.

“Boom. Right where I want you.” Hevan adjusted his sights, the crosshairs on a barely visible mine in the sandy floor. He repeated a mantra taught to him eons ago, waiting for the shield to be inches away from passing over the mine. “Safety, sight, trigger. Safety, sight, trigger. Safety, sight, trigger.”

He fired. His shot was true and pure, striking the mine as the shield was halfway across it. Trapped within the shield, the blast was far more deadly and contained than they would normally be, and the resulting explosion triggered other mines. A flurry of explosions emanated from the street, a chain reaction that destroyed everything caught in their path.

Evidently alerted, several droids began to move inward, towards the site of the explosion. Lining his shots up, Hevan fired, one at a time dropping the droids like sacks of Bantha feces. Some shots were fired at him, but these did little other than creating sparks and holes in the rusting metal of his refuge.

He saw a shadow on a nearby street. “Now, how did she get here this quickly?” Hevan began to think how, before remembering who he was facing. If she so desired, she could track him blind just by his thought. Promptly, Hevan did what he normally did around her, and stopped actively thinking. Now, she would find it a bit more difficult to find him, almost like snow on fresh tracks. Hevan, again having little desire to taste her blade or defeat, fell back and silently made his way through the streets.

He turned, finding his way into a large street with little opportunity to escape through the side streets nearby. This was a trap if there ever was one. Perfect.

He tested the depth of the sand nearby, to great delight. He had the perfect way to hide from the Dread Lord. Burrowing into the ground, he grabbed a metal sheet off one of the shacks, placing it above the hole he had made. He chucked his pack and rifle into the hole, tucking them just out of sight.

To Hevan, this could go amazingly or terribly. He lay down in the sand, using the metal sheet to cover him, after all, it shouldn’t stand out when compared to the rest of the debris on the floor. He covered himself about 90% in sand, only leaving his hands and head exposed. In his hands he held his pistol, pointing down the street and toward where Selika should wander through. Should being the key word.

He called her, not verbally but mentally. He didn’t even need to use the telepathy that many of his brothers in the clan used, just thinking should do. She would come, that he assured by sending a single shot down the street. Maybe not the sound, but the light would attract her.

Out of the corner of his eye, Hevan caught sight of the dread lord, gracefully jumping to land on top of one of the houses, before she ducked into an open skylight. Through the windows, Hevan saw purple light, before the door was slammed open as a B1 droid flew out, ripping apart. He laughed, before covering the rest of him.

Selika tossed the mangled droid aside as she pushed her way out into the street again, leaving behind a faux living room of crushed and splintered furniture. Her quarry was still proving elusive, preferring it seemed to keep her at arm's length. Not exactly the worst plan, Selika granted.

"He does know that he's supposed to be fighting you, right?" came Idris's voice across her comlink once again. "Not saving you. You must really keep them terrified."

"Shut. Up." Selika commanded through gritted teeth.

"Whatever it is, either scared of you or scared of killing you, I plan on billing him for those droids he blew up," Idris went on with a tone of mock offense, caring little for her protests. "Imagine, robbing me and the crowd of the spectacle."

Finally having had enough, Selika ripped the comlink from her wrist and dropped it to the ground. Her armored boot slammed down upon it, crushing the device with the sound of shorting electronics. This was the last time she was going to be using Inquisitorius-issued equipment when that karking Mandalorian was around.

Pushing her anger aside to be addressed later in a face to helmet discussion with the Voice of the Brotherhood, Selika dragged her focus back to the matter at hand. The glow and sound of the blaster shot had come several hundred meters down the street, likely indicating where Hevan was setting up what passed for an ambush. The fact that he thought hiding and "thinking quiet thoughts", as Selika liked to describe the tactic, would stop her from finding him was quaint. With Hevan now so close and the rest of the arena floor populated only by droids or other automatons, his presence within the Force stood out like a shining beacon against the dull backdrop of the crowd.

"Come now," Selika muttered to herself, "there's no need to bury yourself. You're not dead just yet."

She could feel him watching as she closed the distance between them, sensing the subtle tingle of danger as he was likely sighting one of his weapons on her as she did so. Coming closer and closer to him she reached out into his mind, steering his intention with a subtle, yet dominant, mind trick.

Safety, sight, left, trigger, Selika projected into his thoughts.

Selika didn't even flinch as twin red blaster bolts leapt out from some debris before her and whizzed by the right side of her head. She could feel the sniper's frustration as he recited on his target.

Safety, sight, right, trigger.

Once more twin shots flashed out towards her, once more Selika didn't even move as the shots passed harmlessly to her left. Selika smiled. Why worry about trying to grasp blindly for the barrel of a weapon, trying to push it out of alignment, when there was a weak mind directing the weapon itself? It was simplicity to exert precise pressure on the real flaw in the weapon system, the sentient mind controlling it.

"Do you want to keep wasting your shots, soldier?" Selika asked. "I doubt you'll have much more success."

Almost as if to punctuate her taunt, a flash of lightning lit the sky. A heartbeat later thunder rumbled through the arena as a light rain began to fall. Selika had to resist the urge to laugh at the timing, better to let her opponent think it was some power wielded by the elders of the Brotherhood.

She could feel his resolve attempting to steel against her intrusions, but he wasn't up to the task. Another shot, then another, crossed the distance between them but failed to find their mark. Selika finally readied her weapon once again, wondering if he would attempt to flee once again before she reached him or if Hevan would make it easy for her.

Then, suddenly, the danger she sensed around her rose to peak intensity as the hair on the back of her neck stood on end. This time, however, the danger wasn't before her but was instead beneath her feet. She had just enough time to call a barrier into being as the mine she had just stepped on detonated.

The barrier held long enough to shield her from the blast itself, but did nothing to anchor her against the kinetic force of the explosion. Instead the barrier allowed the shockwave to push her upward into the air several tens of meters as if she were an ancient chemical rocket. Spinning head over heels, the barrier fractured and dissipated as Selika could no longer hold the strands of the Force that bound it together. Completely disoriented, she could do nothing to brace herself or arrest her motion before she fell back to the arena floor.

Selika's armor was an excellent protective tool against blasters or blows. Crashing foot first into the hard packed earth, it did nothing to strengthen the body beneath it. She screamed as bone in her left leg snapped against forces it could not withstand, pain rushing through her like a scorching fire. It was all she could do to remain conscious against it, walling it off into a place in her mind where it could be left to burn unchecked and unfelt.

With the dust and smoke of the mine's blast beginning to dissipate, Selika fumbled at her armor's controls and triggered the built in optical camouflage system. She had to crawl away and regroup, she was in no shape to face her opponent now. Hearing Hevan push the metal sheet from atop his hiding place, Selika now realized that he had used it to shield himself from the blast he knew she would trigger. Her heart sank as she saw him make straight for her, somehow able to see her through her camouflage.

"Shame about the rain," Hevan said with a smile as he reached her. "It's a bit harder to cloak oneself when there are droplets of water beading up all over your invisible armor."

Selika's eyes widened, now silently cursing the weather she had been arrogantly enjoying mere moments earlier. Hitting the controls once more, she deactivated the system. The rain had now soaked her hair, the wet strands framing her defiant features.

"The victor standing over the broken body of the loser," Hevan scoffed. "Where have I seen this play out before? Oh right, when we met on Hutta."

"Enjoy it," Selika said, projecting bravado that she couldn't actually manage at the moment. "Even a blind massif can occasionally find a bone."

"It was just a simple matter of thinking about everything but the real plan. Once you all find the first thought, you rarely go looking for anything else lurking in the background," he explained with a chuckle.

As Hevan raised his blaster once again Selika reached out with the Force, calling the lightsaber to her hand from where it had jarred loose from her grip as she hit the ground. She could only hope that it arrived before her foe's blaster bolt.

Hevan didn’t fire. He simply stood, rain falling and dripping down his armour, blaster outstretched. For some reason, shooting the Dread lord while cameras were watching and broadcasting to a great many spectators probably wasn’t a very good idea. Doing so would probably make him come down with a sever case of knife to the base of his neck.

Selika had her blade, steam rising where rain hit it, but Hevan still stood silent. She could feel his thoughts, his fear and hesitation. He held no hatred or rage within him, just a mix of sadness and pity.

Despite this, he never dropped the blaster. The laser never shook, never wavered from pointing at her forehead. Hevan knew he had missed his chance, she had her lightsaber and that was enough to kill him if she so desired.

“I shan’t insult you by asking you to yield.” Hevan was quiet, but Selika heard him. He closed his eyes, sighing and thinking. She could feel every thought, every worry, every possibility that ran through his head and he made little effort to hide these.

Suddenly, he turned. By the time Selika had turned to look where he was, his pistol had been holstered and his rifle was in his hands. A quick shot, one of the cameras fell to the ground, a smoking wreck. A second, to similar affect.

Selika tried to move, but quick as a flash, without even looking, the pistol was back out and pointing at her chest. She understood the threat, and rested. Hevan’s eyes scanned the surroundings one last time before moving back to her. His composure had changed, seemingly more steady now, in his eyes was his decision.

Selika braced for the shot, but it never came. He raised his pistol before sliding his pack off his back.

“I’d rather you live and in return, I’m hoping that there won’t be poison in my next meal.”

A crackle from the comlink, and Idris’ voice came over, angry and annoyed. “You owe me for the cameras Hevan.”

Hevan laughed, a weak and worried laugh that betrayed his true fear. He clicked the comlink off before the Mandolorian could respond.

Grabbing his rifle, he offered it to the Dread Lord as a crutch, helping her to her feet, albeit shakily. She rose, limping while following Hevan. He, without any need of the force, could feel the embarrassment practically emanating from her.

“You’re enjoying this.”

“Damn straight. Don’t kill me for this but you’ve got it easy. When I was enlisted, I once had to cross a jungle with both my legs broken and that was a hell of a time. Admittedly the war going on at the time didn’t make my job much easier, but I got a couple rides from here to there. Could be worse. Could always be worse.”

Hevan guided her to shelter from the rain. There, he grabbed the damaged leg of a droid and rope from his pack, roughly fashioning a splint from it. He jammed a piston from the leg into the knee joint to keep it straight. After all, if he knew how to fix a problem, he could recreate the problem to his benefit. He threw it to her, and she slowly attached it to her leg, biut faltered several times.

Selika was on the verge of passing out. He head dropped and it was plain she didn’t have long before she became subconscious. Hevan looked over, worry clouding his face.

Before she could react, his pistol was in his hand and she had blue rings passing over her body. Hevan, with all the dignity that was to be expected of him, threw a tarp over her and sat down, pulling a stove and making some food. He wouldn’t move until she was awake. He would be blamed if she died. He wouldn’t let that happen.