1M Credit Combat Tournament Round One (Beltran Rarr vs. Kei Raxis)

[Beltran Rarr]

Photo credit: AndreeWallin

Phu, a world in the colonies region of the galaxy. Populated by members of the Bardottan race, it has become a world that thrives on games. Sports, pod racing, and essentially any game that requires some form of competition is more than a past-time here, it is a way of life.

It was sport, after a manner, that brought Beltran Rarr-former assassin and mercenary and newly turned soldier for the Antarian Rangers-to this world: blood sport. On a whim, as he had been browsing through the HoloNet, he had come across and advertisement seeking fighters for a combat tournament. The prize: one million credits.

Though he now wore the mantle of soldier, Beltran was and probably always would be, a mercenary at heart. Duty, honor, sacrifice...none of these things held importance to him that came close to his lust for credits.

It was that lust that brought him to this world and stood him upon one of the many treacherous cliffs of Phu's mountainous region. Across from him, approximately thirty meters away, stood his opponent. Beltran knew nearly nothing about this man, except that he appeared to be human and that his name was [member="Kei Raxis"]. Both men had been armed with only a spear.

Beltran was bare chested and wore only a pair of black fatigue pants and combat boots. As soon as he had learned of the nature of the trial, the Lorrdian had decided to opt for speed and agility over the protection that armor would provide. His pale skin was littered with slash like scars and several pock-like blaster marks: the evidence of a life lived in violence.

As he narrowed his vision at his opponent, he forced himself to relax his muscles. The combat they were about to embark upon would be a thing of reflex: there would no room for conscious thought. Watching his opponent, he would rely on the his species native talent of being able to read others' body language for the first sign of an attack.

Speaking out, he filled the air with his baritone, accented basic. "Would you care to make the first strike? Or shall I?"

 

[GhostOfProtocol]

[member="Beltran Rarr"]​

Phu​

852 ABY​

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He had excuse to be annoyed.

His hunt for his father had hardly progressed. His father was good at hiding, good at getting out of the spotlight. William Raxis was good at not being found. He had almost vanished, he was out there somewhere but he wasn't making it easy to find him.

Kei wore loose fitting gear as opposed to the man opposite him, the opponent opposite him. Kei willingly gave up movement for the protection, he could land a lucky strike easy enough. His opponent, the man named Beltran has chosen the opposite, had chosen the movement over the protection. That just made it easier to land that lucky strike, the lucky blow that would end this round with ease. The fact that Beltran was unarmed made the entire fight easy.

He orbitted the spear in his hand, twirling it slightly. He wasn't used to pole weapons, he didn't like pole weapons. He'd rather have his lightsaber in his hand or a good blaster. He wanted a good blaster, he was good with a blaster. He didn't like pole weapons, he wasn't used to pole weapons. He hoped that Beltran would use the spear as a projectile, leaving him unarmed. That was unlikely however, Kei had to admit.

"After you"

He offered a cocky bow, smiling. He was looking forward to claiming the million credit reward. He needed the money, he'd spent so much on droids and on his ship that he didn't have much less. Plus, the rebirth of Corellia had given Kei an excuse to return home and rebuild his childhood house, rebuild the house that he had grown up in. Three houses, four including Kesh. He knew he had to admit that was expensive.

At least he only paid for one.

 

[Beltran Rarr]

Beltran watched the man as he moved the spear around in his grip. The Lorrdian could tell from his opponent's movements that he was unused to fighting with a weapon such as this.

Good, He thought to himself. At least in that, they would both be on somewhat equal footing. Though his Antarian Ranger training had provided the former assassin with primers on a number of unorthodox weaponry Beltran also preferred a good blaster or better yet, a vibro-blade he could slip between the other man's ribs. The spear felt strangely unbalanced in the Lorrdian's hands.

Yet, even as he listened to the man's invitation to make the first strike, Beltran's mind was already formulating strategies. He would not, as his opponent had already guessed, simply throw the weapon. There was too much distance between them, and in a one on one confrontation like this, it was as good as giving his weapon away.

No, if Beltran was going to lose his weapon, he was going to do his best to ensure that his opponent would also.

The Lorrdian held the spear at mid level, with the point towards his enemy and the shaft at an approximate forty-five degree angle with the ground. Without speaking, or responding to Kei's words at all, he approached his opponent. As he walked, Beltran stepped gingerly, attempting to put a sense of uneasiness into his movements.

After all, this was an unfamiliar weapon, Kei was an unfamiliar opponent, and they were fighting on unfamiliar ground.

Anyone would be uneasy. And so he played to the other man's cockiness, hoping his arrogance would conceal Beltran's true skill until it was too late.

Once he had arrived within striking range of his opponent, Beltran stopped. He considered the man for the briefest of seconds, adding to the subterfuge of being afraid, at the expense of opening himself up to a preemptive attack. He then lunged forward and thrust the tip of the spear directly at Kei's head.

Any student of combat new that aiming for the head was usually one of the worst things a combatant can do. Heads are small targets with the ability to move quite quickly. Add to that the fact that a sufficiently hard skull can make it difficult to do serious damage with a first blow, it seemed a folly that the Lorrdian would choose this target.

At least it would seem that way until Beltran changed his grip on the spear in mid thrust, attempting to bring the point down and catch the shaft of Kei's spear with it. If he was successful, Beltran would attempt to pull both weapons away from his opponent, ideally disarming his enemy while keeping him in possession of his weapon.

[member="Kei Raxis"]