A cesspool of the downtrodden, the Refugee Sector on Nar Shaddaa is home to both the unfortunate and criminals alike. Offering their protection for credits, the criminal organizations that control the sector tax the populace outrageous sums. Unable to provide these fees, refugees are forced to work under hazardous conditions producing glitterstim and adrenals for their overseers. Some of these refugees are addicted to the substances themselves—for which the cartels increase the price of their tithes in exchange for a share of the product.

Crammed with stalls and makeshift hovels, several of the sector’s inhabitants find refuge on the streets and in the alleyways. Those who managed to avoid the dangers of drug production can be found selling their limited and often defective goods to others. Behind these stalls a selective stock of black market wares is hidden, reserved for mercenaries and thugs.

Littered with garbage, it is obvious that no maintenance droids have been programmed to maintain the sector. The surrounding towers have fallen into decay, bits of debris falling every so often into the middle of the street. The duracrete streets are covered in a film of filth and chemicals from the abandoned warehouses, making movement cumbersome when traveling through the most inhabited areas.

Patrols armed with blasters and vibroswords come through these areas regularly, making a show of force to advertise the merits of their ‘protection’ while extorting the occasional shopkeeper. Screams and shouts are a common enough sound, which is never in the refugees’ best interests to interfere in.

The stench of garbage filled Droveth's nostrils as he walked through the streets of Nar Shaddaa. The filth was piled up to his ankles even in the heavy traffic areas, and he didn't like the weight he felt on his boots. Four days he had spent in the Refuge sector, four days too long. Mercenaries always took longer.

His compatriot, Keiji Suoh, strolled beside him through the street with ease. The Togruta Mercenary was well equipped for the environment; both physically and technologically. His tall and muscular frame apparent beneath his menacing Shadow Trooper armor, modified for his unique appearance. A katana swung rhythmically on his hip.

"Where exactly are we going?" Droveth asked, examining his surroundings. They had traveled far from the merchant who paid them, and the Knight now realized he had never inquired what the destination was. Keiji had led them into a less populated area, but it appeared to have been recently vacated. Blood splattered down the walls and broken glass in the store fronts told signs of a skirmish.

"Gang warfare? Is that why you led me here?"

"No." The Mercenary replied coolly. Droveth turned and locked eyes with the Togruta, willing himself into Keiji's mind. Before the Jedi could gather any information he spoke.

"You won't have to go into my mind, I was about to speak."

"Oh, sorry, force of habit." Droveth smirked and tapped Keiji on the shoulder.

"When we were in the transport on the way here, you told me that your combat methods could best mine in a open fight. I wish to test that theory." Droveth again reached into Keiji's mind, this time finding that he spoke the truth. He intended on an 'anything goes, no holds barred' test of their combat prowess', stopping only at severe injury, or of course calls of mercy. The Knight could sense that there would be none.

"I didn't think you'd remember that. Let me think." The Jedi turned and surveyed the 'arena', a pentagonal shaped courtyard filled with only trash and broken glass. To the south led the alley they came through, leading back towards the merchant and their transport. To the northeast, another alley led out of this courtyard and into a far more decrepit area. On the northwest face was a destroyed ration center, cleanly looted but for a few metal racks and empty packaging. Adjacent to the ration center was a the smoldering remains of a store that could not be identified; the only surviving piece was the structure itself. The southeastearn store looked to have been a gambling hall, with burned and bloodied cards and half destroyed units scattered around the floor.

"This will serve as a fitting arena. I accept your challenge." Droveth bowed to the Mercenary, who returned the courtesy. They both stepped back ten feet and readied themselves. The Jedi was facing the ration center. He slowed his breathing, calming himself, feeling the Force wash through him. He felt his surroundings, he felt the Togruta behind him readying his katana. Now it was a chess game.

Keiji made the first strike, closing the gap with ease and bringing the katana downward on the turned Knight. Droveth saw the strike a second before it happened, swirling into his mind like a mist. He withdrew his lightsaber, no igniting it, but parrying the katana slash. The blade bounced off into the air, but the Mercenary had planned for the counter. He brought his left elbow hard into the side of Droveth's head. The Jedi stumbled sideways, losing balance for a moment. Bending his knees as he fell, Droveth could feel the Force building in his legs. As he hit the ground he launched upwards, doing a backhand spring and landing six feet away from Keiji.

Droveth took a slow breath and calmed his mind, forcing the pain in his temple to subside. The Mercenary took no time to rest, lunging towards him. The Jedi held his lightsaber up and ignited it.

Damn Jedi and their stupid magical swords that cut through anything, Keiji thought as he held his blade in the defensive format. A cut from that would go through anything he had. Dodging and remaining at range was all the Titan could do at the moment. Sheathing his blade, Keiji drew his knives and unleashed a flurry of blades at Droveth. The knives all targeted non-vital areas like knees and shoulders, as this was a sparring session not a death match. He sidestepped most of them and cut one of the thrown weapons in mid-air. I small sigh fell from Keiji. Sure he could always get more knives, but it still sucked that he would have to get more later.

Droveth closed the distance dashing forward and swinging his saber. The beam nearly caught the Mandalorian as he drew himself back. The swings however continued seemingly becoming faster and faster. Keiji soon realised he would have to strike back before he became overwhelmed. The Knight made an overhead swing at Keiji which he dodged, but instead of jumping back, Keiji made his right hand into a semi-fist and smacked the hand holding the lightsaber. With as much force as he could muster, the Titan threw the same fist into the Human’s chest. A resounding whoomp and air leaving lungs was all that could be heard before a slight beep went off on Keiji’s wrist. The Human stood up, painfully holding his chest. He slowly started to send healing energy into his painful sternum.

“You already started without us? I’m kinda disappointed Keiji,” A strange man said as he was flanked by two other humans. The man wore a dark shirt with a burnt looking jacket. Clearly someone of a more… illegal job standing. Droveth first looked at his sparring partner then to the new person that came to where they were. He pointed the end of his blade at the criminal. A large gloved hand appeared in front of his face.

“Just some old employers and their men. They like betting on this stuff,” Keiji explained with a shrug.

“That’s the real reason you did this?” Droveth asked slightly irritated. His opponent gave loose a laugh.

“No, but was an opportunity that seemed worth taking. You do as I asked?” Keiji shouted out to the man, who now had a growing crowd behind him. The criminal smirked as he looked at the currently resting fighters.

“We own this small bit. Shots fired won’t attract anything tonight, we made sure of it.” The Boss shouted out. Small cheers erupted from the crowd of criminals. A small Twi’lek female hopped onto a wooden crate and started shouting that she would take bets. People rushed to her giving various credit amounts, bets being placed on both fighters. A voice rang out from the person standing next to bet keeper.

“Alright boys let’s have a nice fight, ok? The boys have needed something to boost their morale. None of that light sword ok though? We don’t want anyone getting too hurt now,” the Twi'lek standing next to one on the crate shouted. Cheers rang from the gathering of criminals. Droveth stared at Keiji. He begrudgingly turned off his lightsaber and struck out into his fighting stance. His feet were set apart, knees slightly bent, and arms forward. Ready for anything that came Droveth’s way.

“Feel free to use that magic your kind use. Wouldn’t be fair otherwise,” the armored Mandalorian said cockily. The Human smiled at his opponent. The word ‘fight’ was shouted from the audience. Keiji quickly rushed at his foe. Without even touching him, the Knight flung Keiji back into a pile of garbage. On Keiji’s end, all he felt was a massive force knocking him in the stomach. That stupid magic, Keiji thought as he got back up and shaking his head from the blow.

The crowd that had gathered rumbled with the dull roar of twenty simultaneous conversations. Droveth caught pieces of each, mostly wagers against himself. It seemed these mercenaries did not put much faith in the ways of the Jedi.

'Or maybe its because they're all Keiji's compatriots,' He thought to himself as he assessed the situation. Removing his saber from the duel gave the Jedi a slight disadvantage, as his Force abilities would not last forever and the Togruta's blade would ensure he could not get in range for a take down. His options for victory were slowly dropping.

The Knight knew his only hope would be to disarm his foe and use the Force to make him submit. He scanned the 'arena' for ideas. Keiji had now stood, shaking off the blow and raising his katana for another attack; it would be only moments before combat would resume. As his eyes fell on the scorched shop, a plan came to him.

Keiji roared as he charged towards the human, slicing upwards diagonally into his robes. Droveth dodged left, narrowly avoiding the attack. Fragments of his robe flew into the air, caught in the force of the slash. The Mercenary reversed the swing, bringing the blade back down on the Knight. This time he dodged right, turning to avoid a dangerous gash to his shoulder. As Keiji redirected his attack Droveth grabbed his sword arm, pulling his body down, and kicking the back of his left knee.

The Togruta's leg gave out from the force of the blow. Droveth spun and caught Keiji in the back of the head with his other foot, slamming him into the ground. As he fell, the Mercenary swiped Droveth's leg with a kick and sent him sprawled onto his back, only feet away from himself. The human's head hit the ground with a resounding smack and he was visibly dazed. Keiji took this opportunity, standing and picking up the half-unconscious Knight over his shoulders.

"Better lock those bets in." Droveth sailed through the air, launched by the Togruta twenty-five feet through what remained of the ration center window. He could hear whoops and hollers erupt from the crowd as the Twi'lek bookkeeper surely collected the earnings. He could not hear Keiji approaching, but he would almost certainly come to confirm his victory any second; He had to act quickly.

Pulling himself to his knees, the Knight channeled the Force through his hands and directed them towards the piles of ash in the adjacent shop. He began swirling them around, lifting more and more ash into the air. Soon a large black cyclone had formed, growing by the second. Droveth heard an audible gasp as he stood up into the window. Keiji had walked over to the Twi'lek and was discussing the profits, only stopping to look when he felt the wind pulling at his montrals. Just as he turned, Droveth sent the cyclone out into the courtyard, filling the arena with a dense black cloud.

At first the only sound was the gasp from the crowd as black enveloped the air. People unable to see, fears that people would lose bets, or cheating might ensue. Then a giggling noise from the cloud started and then erupted into full blown laughter. Keiji couldn’t help but laugh.

“Did you really think that would do much?” Keiji laughed as he held his arms open. The ash in the air disrupted his ability to see clearly, his montrals could help see slightly, but he tried something else. His helmet went from seeing normally to seeing to seeing red. The Titan could now see through the disruption. Heat waves coming from the spectators currently filled Keiji’s vision. With that knowledge he quickly turned around. In that brief moment of facing the wrong way, Droveth had rushed forward. The Armored figure gave a reactionary swing with his crimson blade, which only managed to graze his opponent. The Human had now done a swift kick to that hand, and watched as the katana flew from the Togruta’s grasp and clattered to the ground. Droveth’s hands grasped his opponent's arm and kicked out his leg. He then hurled the Titan over his shoulder and slammed him into the ground. A thunderous boom sounded through the makeshift arena. Some of the settled ash was now kicked up into the sky again.

A gasp of shock fell from the crowd. The Human smiled knowing the crowd didn’t expect that to happen. Cheers than roared from the crowd. At first Droveth thought it was because he won, he then watched as Keiji stood up again shaking off the throw. The Human was at first surprised that Keiji was able to get up from such a hard throw. The Togruta swung his arms in a circle for a moment, seemingly to warm up, and then charged at Droveth. A high kick started at the Jedi Knight, which was then caught. Droveth still winced in pain as he caught most of the force in his hands. Unbalanced, Keiji’s leg was thrown upwards knocking him down again. The Titan merely raised again, seemingly undisturbed by what had just happened.

The hell is he made of, Droveth thought as he assumed his throwing stance again. The Togruta though less formally trained than his opponent, would refuse to go down. Throw after throw he would simply rise, seemingly unharmed by each throw. The Human slowly grew worried. At this rate he would run out of energy and lose.

“I give,” Keiji suddenly announced to the crowd, “No way I can beat him. He’s better than me.” Cries of sadness and boo’s shouted from the crowd, while only a few people shouted in joy as their unlikely bet won them credits. A small sack was thrown at Droveth.

“Well boys, thanks for the entertainment. Hopefully we can do this again someday,” The leader said slowly backing away from the two fighters. A frown formed on the Knight’s face.

“Why did you give up? A little while longer and you would have had me,” Droveth asked confused picking up the small bag of credits that landed at his feet.

“Like I said you’re better than me at fighting,” Keiji replied drawing his pistols, “But…” A series of shots rang out from each slugthrower. Glass bottles shattered on the other end of the ring. Not a single shot missed.

“...I bet I’m still a better shot than you” Keiji finished as he spun his pistols in his hands. A smile grew across Droveth’s face as he drew his blaster. A little challenge never hurt right, Droveth thought as he took aim at a can that was resting on a dumpster.