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 Forge.

Inspired by the droid factories on Geonosis and the flowing lava rivers of Mustafar, the Forge is a collection of deadly heat and hard-slamming steel. In the center of the arena is a “peak” from which the lava flows downward through rivers and cliff-faces. Radiating outward is a series of tiered rings, each getting lower the further from the center you get.

Along the rivers of lava, various arteries suck out the super heated earth to melt metal. The loud clanking slamming of metal sheets heating and cooling, tempering and forging together ring clearly through the entire arena. Conveyor belts lead the metal sheets away from the arena to be used by ACE in the spaceship yards.

Alaris Jinn could feel the heat long before he could see it. As soon as the cylinder’s lid opened, a blast of hot air filled the elevator chamber that brought him up to the arena. A smile slipped over his face as he rose to the surface. There were only a handful of opponents who would be at home in this heat.

He doffed his cloak and dropped it on the grate at his feet. He kicked away part of it that had landed on his left foot and took in his surroundings. He stood on the lowest of three rings that surrounded the central peak. Two streams of lava slurped by him, bubbling slightly as some sort of substance evaporated beneath it. Machines and droids clanged and whirred over the battlefield creating a cacophony of metallic noise.

His first step was tentative. It hadn’t been long since his first combat and his chest still itched from where the vibroblade had been removed from his heart and healed with bacta. Halcyon’s memories had faded away, but Alaris was sure he would still have nightmares. For now, his focus was clear.

His second step came a few seconds after his first. So far, no droids or turrets had started shooting at him. This was an improvement over the Shanty Town. The third step came quicker and eventually he was striding across the rocky steppe with speed. He leapt over the lava rivers with ease. The heat rising from them made Alaris try to cross them with more haste than normal.

He reached a shielded building and slipped through the ray shielding to an immediate temperature drop. It was jarring, but not unexpected, though he suddenly found himself wishing he still had his cloak. He climbed through an opening and glanced around the inner chamber. Large pistons slammed down along a winding conveyor belt, flattening out molten steel for sheets. Alaris shuddered at the prospect and made his way through the access catwalks to a control room. He found no sign of entry or tampering.

Behind him was a ladder and a hatch that led to the roof of the small factory and Alaris ascended for a better vantage. He didn’t care about the slamming of the hatch as it was drowned out by the clanging below. He knelt to maintain a low profile and looked down the lowest steppe. He quickly realized that any sign of movement would be obscured by the heat distorting his vision.

He cursed quietly to himself and shook his head. He began to sigh and then stopped abruptly. He could feel a level of nervousness rising slightly, but it didn’t belong to him. He immediately reached out to touch as many minds as possible and found his opponent’s in the sea. He spun around and looked up to the second steppe just as a blast rang out.

It was aimed perfectly and the plasma flung through the air directly toward Alaris’s chest. Alaris cursed the dark side for not warning him just as the plasma hit the ray shield and dissipated along it.

“Oh. Right.” He shook his head and then stared up at his assailant. Whoever they were had disappeared over the rock face, but Alaris had all he needed.

Hello there, he whispered through the Force. You should have thought ahead before letting me know where you were.

Alaris slid off the roof and landed softly on the rocky floor. He darted through the ray shield directly to the rock face. The climb took longer than he would have liked, but he was able to find footholds and some interesting bouldering puzzles. Each grasp brought him closer and closer to his opponent’s mind and eventually his hand reached over the top and he started to pull himself over the edge.

The Force gave him plenty of warning this time, but with all four limbs engaged at the time, there wasn’t anything he could do to stop the diminutive foot from coming down and catching his face square. He felt his grip falter but he stayed in position. He reached up to defend himself from the next kick only to feel the porous igneous rock crumble under his planted hand. He knocked his opponent’s foot away and fell backward, left hand full of crumbled rock. He stared up at the edge and saw another Rutian Twi’lek smiled back down at him as he fell backward.

He sighed. “There certainly are better ways to die,” he thought to himself while twisting his body to ensure that he did not die.