Character
SECOND STRIKE
Tag:
The heat was suffocating, steam, dust, and the scent of burned metal swirling into a single breath before the charge.
Tyr’s gauntlet tightened on the reins, his Basilisk crouched low beneath him, engines growling like a caged beast aching to be loosed. Across the field, Siv Kryze’s mount mirrored the posture, its crimson-tinged armor glinting in the haze, the red ribbon at his pauldron fluttering defiantly against the stormlight.
The crowd’s chant built around them, an anthem, ancient and alive.
“MEREEL! KRYZE! MEREEL! KRYZE!”
Tyr’s voice came low through his modulator, calm and measured, more prayer than boast. “Let the Forge bear witness.”
The bell tolled once more.
His Basilisk launched forward with a thunderous burst, thrusters igniting in white fire. The world blurred into speed and motion, the vibration running through his bones. He kept his lance steady, the weapon’s hum synchronizing with his heartbeat. Each stride brought the distance down, the silhouette of Siv growing sharper, closer, one heartbeat, then none.
They hit at the same time.
The collision was pure violence, two lances striking with identical force, both blows landing in perfect simultaneity. Siv’s lance crashed against Tyr’s chestplate, the impact hammering through beskar and bone alike, rattling his ribs with the kind of pain that came only from a clean hit. At that same instant, Tyr’s own weapon connected, slamming into Siv’s flank with a concussive burst that sent sparks scattering like molten stars.
For a moment, the sky itself seemed to crack.
Tyr’s Basilisk roared in agony, hydraulics screaming as it stumbled sideways under the shock. His arm wrenched hard against the recoil, the lance jarring free from its socket. He nearly went with it, the world tilting, sky and ground trading places. But reflex and fury saved him. His left hand shot out, slamming into the stabilizing grip as he hauled his weight back into the saddle. The Basilisk’s claws tore trenches into the dirt, repulsors flaring as it regained balance by sheer force of will.
Every muscle in his body burned. His chest ached beneath the dented plate, the breath knocked clean out of him. But through the haze, through the pain, he grinned.
Because across the field, through the haze of steam and shattered dust, Siv Kryze was still upright too. Both of them battered. Both of them breathing. Both of them unbroken.
The roar of the crowd swallowed everything else. “MEREEL! KRYZE! MEREEL! KRYZE!” It wasn’t just sound anymore, it was belief, fire, pride. Mandalorian.
Tyr pulled his Basilisk to a halt, smoke venting from its sides. He straightened, chest rising with slow, deliberate breath, and raised his lance in salute. The motion was stiff from the impact, but steady.
“Ha!” he barked over the comm, the laugh rough and genuine. “That’s the kind of strike they’ll tell stories about.”
He looked down at the black scorch running across his chestplate, then back up at his opponent. “You’ve got the Forge’s fire in you, Kryze. Keep it burning.”
His Basilisk shifted beneath him, rumbling low, eager for another go. Tyr adjusted his stance in the saddle, letting the lance rest against his shoulder as he spoke again, voice carrying across the arena.
“One more pass, vod,” he called. “For Mandalore. For the Creed. For every soul that remembers what we are.”
The crowd surged in answer, chanting louder, banners whipping in the wind. The Basilisk’s engines built to a growl again, heat distortion warping the air around its frame.
Tyr’s voice dropped to a near whisper inside his helmet, meant for no one but himself and the Forge that made him.
“Let them see what remains unbroken.”
And with that, he lowered his lance once more, ready, bruised, and smiling behind the visor, as the next signal flare rose above Everholt’s sky.