Duel Galactic Kaggath Quarterfinals: Allyson Locke vs Arris Windrun

[Mauve du Vain]

x

The boiling lava forming the surface of the arena began to hiss and steam.

“LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, ARE YOU READY TO BEGIN THE THIRD ROUND?”

The hissing grew louder, the steam now rising in voluminous clouds, concealing the entire surface of the arena behind a condensation layer so thick it appeared like a sauna.

A sudden geyser of water burst from the midst of the arena and the sound of rushing water became overpowering. As the steam dissipated, it revealed that the lava had cooled and hardened, but was swiftly disappearing beneath a lake of water.

“What you are seeing is four MILLION gallons of salt water pumped into the arena. And those cages being lowered in… Yes those are in fact mutated firaxan sharks!”

The beasts thrashed wildly before they were let loose from cages and splashed into the water.

Hoverfreighters lowered huge platforms onto the surface of the water, which floated placidly.

“BEHOLD! THE GREAT PLANET OF MANAAN AND ITS FLOATING CITIES!”

The not-Marka Ragnos announcer zoomed around on a hover pod, holding something aloft in his hands.

“AND ITS SEAS….” He snapped the vial and tossed it down into the water far below. A thick, pungent green ichor spilled out from the vial and began to pollute the surface of the arena lake. “POISONED!”

“YES, THAT’S RIGHT, THIS ROUND REPRESENTS THE BATTLE OF MANAAN AND ALL THOSE WHO FOUGHT AND DIED THERE SO LONG AGO!”

Smaller buoys bobbed in the midst of the lake, strange bundles attached to them.

“EVEN A SMALL DIP IN THE LAKE MEANS CERTAIN DEATH… BUT THERE ARE SOME ANTIDOTES, CONVENIENTLY BUOYED ACROSS THE ARENA! USE RESPONSIBLY, THERE’S ONLY FOUR!.”

Of course, the contestants could also use abilities to purge the toxins from their system too, but where was the fun in announcing that to the audience?

"FACING OFF ACROSS THE PLATFORMS, THE ARCHER EXTRAORDINAIRE VERSUS THE CYBERNETIC WONDER, ALLLYYYYSSOOOON LOCKE AGAIIIINST ARRIS! WINDRUN!

“LET THE QUARTER FINALS OF THE GALACTIC KAGGATH, BEGIN!”

Allyson Locke | Arris Windrun

 

[Arris Windrun]

From molten lava to poisoned sea, but at least this time it wasn't that damned burning tree. Somehow, that had been the worst of 'em for Arris, but thankfully, her cybernetics could handle intoxication from multiple sources. Though she did have to be careful, as her liver was damaged in her fight with Vagabond , and the scoundrel now relied on a co-implant to help remove toxins from her blood.

She eyed the antitodes on the other side, making a mental note in case it came down to it.

The cyborg had taken a lot of damage in her last fight, too. She chose to have her subdermal armor repaired rather than the toxic splinters surgically removed from her soft tissue. She also lost an Ambassador that Tai Corde gave her. One of the two holsters was noticeably empty, causing the other to sink asymmetrically from the weight of its iron.

Seeva, her Herglic friend, remained a steadfast ally in all of her fights so far. The experienced slicer had gotten away with more than his share of antics, and even now, Arris' co-processor remained linked into three of the many camera droids hovering around them.

Arris marched across the dueling platform, soaking in cheers and jeers alike, and inhaled the toxic air with a steeled grimace as finally, her eyes fell upon her opponent.

"If you're not first, you're last." She took her fighting stance. "Bespin Gas!" Thunderous cheers.

Allyson Locke

 

[Allyson Locke]

//: Arris Windrun //: Mauve du Vain //:
//: Attire //:
//: Equipment //:
//: Bow & Arrows //: Contact Lens //: Jacket //: Arrows of Absence x 25 //: Bag of Absencite x 5ea //: Sword //:
//: Non Transferable "Equipment" //:
//: Ava'kash Brand //: Emperor's Echo //:

Before the fight, Allyson had returned her opponents' equipment.

CT-312 received all the Locke & Key gear she had been issued, along with the maser gun. The trooper had fought well, and Allyson was impressed, especially by her tenacity. What impressed her more, though, was the ability to laugh in a Sith Lord's face. It reminded the Shadow of herself, once, back when she always got back up after Carnifex had thrown her across a room.

Darth Malum of House Marr also found his gear returned to his locker. Allyson had taken the liberty of scanning his armor and precious sword, both of which now sat as trophies in her office. He had fought well. It had been some time since she'd had to try. She respected him—and sensed that the feeling was mutual. It was rare to find honor among Sith, but the boy had earned hers.

Calis, ( Darth Virelia ) on the other hand, had brought nothing and left with nothing. All she found was a crudely drawn image of herself taking an arrow to the chest. A petty send-off.

They returned to their cold war. The Kainites' shadows would keep protecting her for now.

There wasn't much time between rounds. Allyson was still angry—everything had ended before she could finish Calis off. That last surge of energy the Witch mustered had blocked some of her strongest attacks. Thinking about it only pissed her off more.

Once again, the slug had managed to slither away.

Rolling her shoulders, Allyson tried to refocus, shaking thoughts of snapping Serina's neck from her mind. She needed to stay sharp. It was unfortunate she hadn't drawn the woman again, but at least the blonde's own hubris had brought them close to that final reckoning.

She tilted her head side to side. Pop. Pop. The Force drain had done more than she expected. Her side still ached, but the bleeding had stopped. And the surge of power lingered, potent and coiled, building to something powerful.

Her next opponent was mostly unknown, save for a faint connection. That alone gave the Corellian an edge. Not much—but more than nothing. From a distance, she began to size up the cyborg.

Fate was a cruel mistress. But Allyson no longer danced on her strings.

She let her senses wash over Arris, searching for exploitable weak points. Everything seemed standard… but there were complications with some of the hardware. Pity. She had hoped the girl had decent staff on hand to keep her tuned.

Then, something.

A data thread danced around the cyborg and the floating cameras above. Curious.

Through the Force, Allyson reached out. Her influence flowed over the cybernetic processor, recognizing the sliced signal and rerouting the feeds through Arris's systems.

She clicked her tongue and wagged her finger, smirking.

"Arris, that's cheating."

With a wave of her hand, Allyson severed the connection, cutting the cyborg off from the camera feeds.

Stealth was her game. And if the girl had eyes in the sky, Allyson could lose her edge.

As the link broke, the Corellian slipped into the shadows. The Force bent light around her. She vanished—both from sight and from the Force itself. The Shadow didn't know if Arris could sense her through the Force. Didn't matter. Allyson wasn't taking any chances.

Her attention shifted to the floating antidotes. She wanted them in play, but didn't want the cyborg to have an easy escape. A thumb traced the pad of her glove as her contact lenses synced with her HUD.

An explosive arrow formed in her quiver. She drew it. Fired.

The arrow hit one of the buoys dead-on. The explosion sent a heavy splash crashing against the floating platforms.

Allyson didn't wait to see the aftermath. She moved, her eyes scanned for the next target—the next antidote.

She wasn't about to let Arris outmaneuver her.

Not here. Not now.

 

[Arris Windrun]

The connection between her co-processors and the droids was yanked! Sudden and unexpected, it served to scramble the cyborg's senses momentarily.

"Argh!" She held her head as the shock washed over her.

When she regained her senses, Arris saw only the empty platform where her opponent used to be. She looked around to try and regain her senses, only to be caught off guard again when an explosion rocked her.

"What the!" She turned her attention to where one of the antidotes used to be, and huffed. "I'm sorry, are we here to fight or not?!" Her shout mimicked the announcer's voice, which earned some chuckles and jeers from the crowd. After all, those who remained at this point were either rowdy or crazy.

Arris broke into a sprint and spoke with Seeva over her subvocal comms. "Hey buddy, tell me what the hell is going on?" Her tone mocked that sort of customer service politeness used for the worst offenders.

"I don't know! The connection was disconnected by... By... I just don't know. Something on your end?" Indeed, the Herglic was nothing but confused by what transpired. He tried his best to help center his friend's focus, but it would take time. "I think this is just like with Creed. Use the algorithm!"

Again!? Arris groaned.

The Herglic uploaded an algorithm to her coprocessor that would adjust her visual acuity. "Follow the bend, and you'll have your target."

The Jedi Shadow, Drystan Creed , tried a similar trick in his fight with Arris. Thankfully, cybernetic eyes and a co-processor came hand-in-hand. She might not be able to see Allyson directly, but with Seeva's algorithm, she could pinpoint the subtleties where the Force bent the light around the shadow. Far from a big red X, but noticeable enough with some focus.

She rolled out of her sprint, drew her Ambassador, and stopped on one knee with her eyes focused down sight.

There! She fired a shot that rippled through the Arena.

Allyson Locke

 

[Allyson Locke]

//: Arris Windrun //:
//: Attire //:
//: Equipment //:
//: Bow & Arrows //: Contact Lens //: Jacket //: Arrows of Absence x 25 //: Bag of Absencite x 5ea //: Sword //:
//: Non Transferable "Equipment" //:
//: Ava'kash Brand //: Emperor's Echo //:

Allyson crept along the edge of the platform, searching for the remaining antidotes.

Through the Force, she could feel fluctuations in Arris' body, each cybernetic component lighting up in real-time as it performed a function or responded to stress. If Allyson wasn't so focused on staying alive, she might have found the girl fascinating.

From the corner of her eye, she observed the erratic twitch of movement. Allyson wondered if this was Arris' first time encountering someone who could so easily reach in and turn her body against her.

It was frightening.

A brief memory surfaced, of her own failures. Of being captured. Tortured. Pinned under the scalpel of a Sith Lord who treated Jedi like lab specimens.

The thought shattered as something buzzed at the edge of her awareness.

First, it was the speech. Arris wasn't just talking to her—she was speaking to someone else. An AI? A handler? Someone in the crowd?
Allyson's brow furrowed. Everyone else was on their own in this fight, relying on instinct and skill. Why should this one get outside assistance?

Second, as she raised her bow to draw another arrow, the buzzing grew louder. A crack rang out. The sound of a blaster.

Her second warning.

Allyson moved. Quick reflexes, thankfully, it was one of her own weapons, the very gun she had given Arris. Still, Arris had aimed well.

Even cloaked, the girl had landed the shot. Her only Force defense kicked in. Allyson absorbed the energy from the plasma part of the shot, but the ballistic impact struck true, tearing into Allyson's left shoulder.

Superficial. But it hurt.

She cursed under her breath, a flare of pain and anger rising in her chest. This girl was getting help. And it was starting to piss her off.

Her eyes narrowed. She reached into the Force and twisted. The area around Arris warped—her comms flickered and died.

Whatever link she'd had to a handler, AI, or external voice, it fell silent. If Arris was going to beat her, the Emperor's hand - she would have to do it alone.

The antidote could wait. Arris had her attention now. Unfortunately for her opponent, the cursed brand of the Asha'kurat helped hide further the Corellian's attack and intent.

The explosive arrow was reassigned. Allyson leveled her bow. Her influence spread across the girl's cybernetics—this time targeting her legs. Servos and joints hesitated, bowing to the Corellian's will as she locked them down.

The arrow loosed. It sang through the air, aimed directly at Arris' feet.

Let her dance her way out of that.

The impact would shake the platform, causing fire and a concussive force to burst upward. Allyson didn't stop to watch. She was already moving, eyes scanning for another floating island to leap toward.

Always keep moving.

Especially when the cyborg's guns—the ones she had given her—hurt like hell.

 

[Arris Windrun]

"You were right! She's using the same Jedi trick," Arris tried to communicate over her implant.

She ran again. The cyborg figured it was best to stay on her feet to make herself a more difficult target. When Seeva failed to reply in a timely manner, Arris was confused. "Hello? Buddy?" No response. She ran a quick diagnostic. The whole channel was down.

"The hell?" She muttered aloud, albeit under her breath.

To make matters worse, her legs began to seize up as if they had just been caked in several kilograms of mud. In the corner of her eye was that explosive projectile. Arris panicked, her system began to flood with stimulants, but it was too little too late to count now. She managed to fight through it, somehow, and dove forward onto the ground, but was unable to escape the explosion's proximity.

The blast spat fire and sent her rolling across the platform. "Argh!" She grunted in confusion and pain.

One of her 'mystery packages' caught fire, and she was forced to toss it as far away as possible. It was no use here, not now, though it was her last one. That karkin SUCKED. Also unbeknownst to her was the servo on the fritz, ready to give out if she pushed herself too much.

Arris stood back up and noticed her legs were much more cooperative again. What the feth?! Maybe all that damage in the past two rounds had caught up with her. For now, she tried to keep it out of mind and focused on readjusting her target.

Her eyes caught a glimpse of that unnatural bend again. She aimed and fired another round, then broke into another sprint and leapt with her powerful legs to reach a different platform. If her opponent went high, so would she, as best she could keep up. She holstered the firearm as soon as she landed.

Allyson Locke

 

[Razmir Tezhyn]

Je'ames the Duro hit the button which lowered the freighter's cargo ramp right as the dingy, beat-up freighter approached the Kaggath arena. He watched his two underlings carefully move their packages into position.

"Je'ames, this is a waste of good product," one of the underlings complained.

"We receive the decs, we take care of business. Just toss it, capisce?" Je'ames replied.

With some grumbling protests the underlings moved the large stack of packages right onto the edge of the loading ramp. Then they waited until the freighter made a low-pass above the arena battlegrounds. The freighter flew a slow circle. The underlings began to toss the cargo in large chunks. Dozens of neatly wrapped packages fell free, then burst mid-air to scatter glitterstim over the dueling grounds.

Glitterstim was a potent variety of the drug family "spice" that was mined on Kessel. It gave the user a brief, yet pleasurable, telepathic boost and heightened mental state.

Once they were done, the freighter left the air space again. In its wake, a translucent blue cloud that sparked with harmless blue electricity covered the 'Seas of Manaan'. The cloud rolled over the waters, potentially engulfing everyone. Not even the first few rows of onlookers were spared the telepathic hallucinogenic's effects.

Arris Windrun Allyson Locke

 

[Allyson Locke]

//: Arris Windrun //:
//: Attire //:
//: Equipment //:
//: Bow & Arrows //: Contact Lens //: Jacket //: Arrows of Absence x 25 //: Bag of Absencite x 5ea //: Sword //:
//: Non Transferable "Equipment" //:
//: Ava'kash Brand //: Emperor's Echo //:

Allyson knew what was coming next, once more Arris leveled the blaster and fired another shot towards her. She was ready, no longer distracted by the buoys. She would continue to deal with them another time. There had been a satisfied smirk that crossed the Corellian's lip as she watched the explosion catch something of value.

Still, Arris was able to avoid most of the damage from the explosion, which meant Allyson needed to try harder.

As the shot rang through the arena, Allsyon twisted her body to avoid the projectile enough that it didn't touch skin. Her jacket, on the other hand, was now the victim of the gun. A hole tore through the worn leather, and Allyson cursed under her breath. She would have to send the jacket for repair, and she didn't have the credits for that kind of stuff right now.

Speed increased, fueled by the force. Allyson was a blur, and she had hoped it would help give her a slight edge over this uncanny ability Arris had to track her. From the initial scan, Allyson hadn't sensed anything like infrared or life scanning in the cyborg's cocktail of cybernetics. Still, something was giving her an edge.

Regardless, she would need to keep moving. From the quiver, she drew one of the acidic arrows and quickly shot it. She ran to the other side of the platform and onto another, barely missing the splash of the waves. Why were they so large now?

As her feet made contact with the platform, the cloud appeared. Whatever it was, Allyson quickly began to detoxify herself. Her mind and body needed to remain her own. Looking back, she watched her opponent and knew it was time to get serious if she was going to make it through to the next round.

Allyson released her suppression in the Force, letting her presence flare—but she remained invisible to the eye.

That surge of energy was immediately redirected, her focus locking onto the platform beneath Arris. Just like before, she reached into its systems, all of it welcoming her touch. It responded instinctively, bending to her will.

With a subtle motion, she commanded the platform to descend, dragging it down into the dangerous depths below.

Knowing Arris would want to move, she fired the first acidic arrow on the platform they started on, then retrieved a second and did the same on the next closest platform. The goal was to surround the woman with acidic and dangerous platforms. At the same time, her own nose dived into the oceans of Manaan.

She didn't quip, nor did she reach out to speak to Arris. The woman could already see somehow her actions and where she was when she moved.

Allyson didn't need to make it easier for her. Frowning, the Corellian took another step back, doing her best to keep on her feet. The strain of the previous fights was starting to wear on her, and she could feel her lungs burning as she gasped for more air.

Would she need to push herself again, like against Malum? She had hoped not.

I'm too old for this chit…

 

[Arris Windrun]

he cloud rolled over the waters, potentially engulfing everyone. Not even the first few rows of onlookers were spared the telepathic hallucinogenic's effects.

Arris inhaled the euphoric fumes, almost with a little too much intention. After all, it was her hefty bribe that convinced the Black Sun to dump a street's worth of the infamous spice into the arena. A spice she had for years consumed regularly, built a tolerance to, and absolutely enjoyed.

However, she didn't have time to savor the high as the platform underneath her now plummeted below like a brick! "Ahh!" She yelped.

The cyborg had to act quickly--she ran towards the edge of the platform. That was when her opponent fired more arrows. Arris slid to a stop, expecting them to be explosive, but instead they released an acidic vapor. "Awww, chit!" She muttered anxiously.

Arris simply didn't have the time. She forced her way through, leaping from one platform to the next, groaning and grimacing her way through the acid that melted holes in her clothes, and even ate at the metal of her cybernetics. Were it not for her cybernetic lungs, the Talusian wouldn't have been able to hold her breath and move as she did. At least something went right.

She burst her way out of the enemy's acidic cloud and leapt dangerously to a lower platform. She collapsed into an ugly roll, breaking a servo in her right arm, and stumbled into an awkward fighter's stance as soon as she got back to her feet.

"C'mon! I put my gun away. Why don't you put that silly thing aside and come at me!" She seethed with anger and frustration. "You Jedi are so dreadfully boring with your tricks."

Her right shoulder slumped visibly from the damage, but between the pain damper implant and the glitterstim, Arris felt little pain.

Allyson Locke

 

[Allyson Locke]

//: Arris Windrun //:
//: Attire //:
//: Equipment //:
//: Bow & Arrows //: Contact Lens //: Jacket //: Arrows of Absence x 25 //: Bag of Absencite x 5ea //: Sword //:
//: Non Transferable "Equipment" //:
//: Ava'kash Brand //: Emperor's Echo //:

Allyson watched the woman move through the acid. It was the obvious safe choice, and it made the Corellian smirk. The tenacity was impressive. Arris was something different than what the spy had faced before. A strange sense of pride swelled in her chest, but Allyson shoved it down. At the end of the day, she still wanted to win.

She moved closer, slipping across the next platform, the one she'd left clear of acidic arrows. Her eyes scanned for a new vantage, a position to drown the cyborg. If she could get her into the water, it would be over. Then she could move on.

But just as she crept closer, something screeched in her ear.

Arris quipped—mocking her skills, calling her tricks Jedi. Allyson stopped, letting the word settle. She recognized the tactic: baiting her, trying to draw the Shadow out from her shrouded veil.

The words stung while clawing at her simple ego.

She stood straight, watching as the glitterstim took hold and the pain suppressors flared through the Force, amplifying her opponent's strength. Impressive. But it wouldn't be enough.

"Fine," Allyson said aloud, her voice cold and calm. "Then let me show you the thrill of a Sith."

The Shadow appeared—just for a moment—giving Arris a glimpse of the chaos she'd just provoked.

Then Allyson moved.

With a single breath, she let the Force surge through her and vanished in a blur.

She launched forward with blinding speed, the Force propelling her across the platform instantly. The air cracked and burned behind the Corellian. Her lead foot planted hard; her body twisted, and she drove a sharp, arcing kick into Arris' side—snapping with enough momentum empowered by the Force to dent durasteel. The blow was meant to break ribs or, at the very least, knock the air from the cyborg's lungs.

But she didn't stop.

Her heel whipped around in a tight, brutal arc toward the side of Arris' head. A clean, fast follow-up—meant to stun. Grounded in her stance, she let the Force fuel her body. Each strike bled precision and ferocity.

Every movement flowed into the next. Nothing wasted.

In any other encounter, Allyson would have vanished again—slipped back into shadow and silence.

But not this time.

She remained. Her form tense, her teeth gritted as the weight of her Master's brutality surged within her. As she pushed through the attack, Allyson did her best to maintain the detoxify, but still she could feel the lingering effects of the glitterstim. It as an annoyance, but the echo helped her focus.

 

[Arris Windrun]

Arris steeled herself when Allyson answered the challenge.

Her opponent came in hard and fast. Arris barely had time to react! She tried to block the kick, but it wasn't quick enough. The blow cracked the subdermal armor on Arris' side and heavily bruised any tissue beneath that. Were it not for the reinforcements along her bones and muscles, such a blow could have been deadly.

She barely managed to bring the arm up for the next strike, which caused her right elbow to snap audibly--a piece of the joint went flying across the platform, and it now hung loosely at her side.

The cyborg entered overdrive. Hormone regulators acted quickly, and stims were continuously dumped into her bloodstream, along with the glitterstim she inhaled through every sharp breath. The colors of the arena grew sharp, and it was as if every motion slowed down. Her brain reacted more quickly, more in-tune with her co-processor. Arris' actions sped up--she was far quicker than any organic, but perhaps slower than her opponent.

At the same time, she began to hear repeats of her conversation with Tilon Quill . She felt his presence more strongly than she did even in her fights with Drystan Creed or Vagabond . You were in the room... She suddenly recalled. He imparted something.

The knowledge he had in mind was the ability for Arris, now revealed as Force-sensitive, to reduce her own pain.

That connection and the glitterstim helped her draw from the Force, although she wasn't entirely aware of it--the constant overuse of her implants only served to reduce her emotional control. She felt angry, frustrated, and afraid, very afraid.

Arris only had one good arm to work with. She struck at her opponent in two jabs, one quickly after the other, then spun with her powerful kick that was strong enough to crush bone with a stomp. She moved as if she hadn't suffered any blows at all.

"You..." She muttered between breaths.

With each exchanged blow, she had a flash of her previous near-death experiences. Drystan tried to crush her skull. Vagabond almost cut her in half.

She wouldn't allow Allyson to have that chance, or so she felt, or so the need to win--to live--raged inside of her like a repressed scream.

"Need to..."

The force wrapped around her arm. When her foot came back down, she slid back and reached down to draw her pistol with lightning-fast reflexes to fire from the hip. If she were quick enough, the powerful manstopper would have little trouble putting a nasty hole in her enemy.

"Die!!!" Her voice cracked with the shrieking cry.

Allyson Locke

 

[Allyson Locke]

//: Arris Windrun //:
//: Attire //:
//: Equipment //:
//: Bow & Arrows //: Contact Lens //: Jacket //: Arrows of Absence x 24 //: Bag of Absencite x 5ea //: Sword //:
//: Non Transferable "Equipment" //:
//: Ava'kash Brand //: Emperor's Echo //:

Allyson felt the give of armor and flesh beneath her kick. The crunch was a satisfying confirmation that the strike had landed cleanly. Maybe she wasn't too old for this after all. Arris' elbow came next. Debris burst from the cyborg's frame, but Allyson didn't flinch.

Then she felt it. A different kind of Force surge, not the polished precision of a trained Jedi, nor the brute power of a Sith. No, this was something more primal: survival. The woman's body was fighting to stay alive.

A pang of frustration—and maybe even sadness—tightened in Allyson's chest. She'd never fought someone whose very life was so dependent on the things she could break. There had been a time in her youth when she dreamed of designing perfect cybernetics. Systems that couldn't be hacked or shut down. Systems people could trust with their lives.

Maybe if she'd gone that route, Arris wouldn't be here like this.

But regret had no place now, not with adrenaline and glitterstim fueling the fight. Still, Allyson saw it in Arris' eyes. Fear. Not the kind that made someone freeze. The kind that made them reckless.

Allyson knew that lesson well. And now, she would be the one teaching it.

Arris struck back. The hits were hard, charged with pain and fury. Each blow slammed into Allyson's forearms, bruising deep under the leather jacket. Her fingers tingled—nerve shock from a strike hitting bone just right. She winced. That was her good hand.

And if you knew, you knew.

If you didn't know, well…it was the one where the nails were done neat and short.

She watched the woman's movements. Allyson couldn't help it—she knew what servos and actuators were about to fire before they did. The way the leg shifted told her everything. Arris was loading for a spin-kick.

So Allyson stepped into it.

She cut the angle at 45 degrees, sliding in close before the momentum could carry Arris through. As the cyborg turned, Allyson reached for her quiver. In one fluid motion, she drew an absencite arrow.

Arris completed the kick, but Allyson was already there.

With Force-fueled precision, she attempted to drive the thick, armor-piercing head of the arrow into the space between the woman's shoulder blades. She didn't activate the arrow's null effect; it wasn't about disrupting the Force now. It was about ending this cleanly.

She didn't see the barrel until it brushed her waist.

Somehow, with the twist of her body and the momentum of the kick, Arris had masked the draw. The pistol pressed close, and Allyson heard her speak. The words were blurred by pain and defiance.

She wanted to kill her. Allyson wasn't sure why.

They were both here by choice. Both had something to prove. Allyson didn't want to kill her.

But the choice wasn't hers anymore.

Time slowed.

The pistol fired, and fire bloomed across her torso. The first thing she tasted was blood—that was never a good sign. Heat radiated outward from the wound, gold ichor mixing with red, pouring from the rupture in her side.

Her defense systems kicked in just fast enough—absorbing the energy from the slug, slowing its damage. The pain still burned. It still hurt. But she was alive.

She kept moving. Momentum was everything.

And with her next breath, Allyson reached out through the Force. The fury sparked behind her eyes. Not rage at her opponent—but at herself. For letting her guard slip.

Allyson poured the absorbed energy into the air between them. She sent it back into the cybernetics, aiming to ionize Arris's systems with a violent pulse.

Her voice was low and direct.

"No, you."

 

[Arris Windrun]

New Eyes​

Arris knocked away the arrow before her opponent had a chance to lodge it. It wasn't even an intentional thought, for the scoundrel's presence had sunk into the layers behind her eyes.

The pistol fired--it made its mark. Was Allyson down? The cyborg hesitated. It was at this range that she watched Vagabond's heart explode. The Sith kept moving, and Arris tried to posture for the next scrap, ready to throw everything she had into ending this.

That is when it hit her. A powerful ionized blast of energy that ripped into her flesh and cybernetics. The smell of burning reeked as her systems began to melt. She fell backward and spasmed. There were audible pops as various systems overloaded to the point of destruction.

Everything slowed to a crawl. Was it the glitterstim? That the energy reached her artificial heart? Arris saw perfectly clear for the first time in her life. All sound washed, all movement slowed, and beautiful colors emanating like flames around her. Countless flickers in the stands, a massive one where Mercy and Drystan Creed fought, and when she looked at Allyson...

Nothingness. Not that nothing was there, but it was obscured? A vast emptiness that was impossible to perceive. The very currents of the Force denied Arris her sight as they gravitated around Allyson. A vast gap in the world she now saw.

"Connecting with the Force can very easily change your personality over time. So rule number two is really 'figure out who you want to be.'"

The words came back to haunt her for a second time. Is this who I want to be? The poor idiot picked now of all times to consider.

Maybe there's a way out... Maybe I can live... Maybe if I just concede, she'll let me live! Maybe...

It was at this moment that Arris noticed something else. She heard... Voices? No. These were feelings. From the first few rows in the stands to the other fights around her, few were spared the effects of glitterstim, her most of all. She could feel the twisted pleasure of those who came to watch contestants die. The fear and disgust of those who didn't have the stomach to watch any longer. Hate and rage from bettors who saw their credits slip away. The maddened euphoria of Mercy , who seemed to be enjoying this as much as she did.

All of it rushed through her now. She looked down at the rampant energy that took her. Why did dying feel so karkin good? She let it take her, one implant fried, the other melted, as all of it crept up her spine like a lightning-fast vine.

When it reached her skull, it melded the co-processor to her brain. Arris embraced the excruciating pain; she embraced the cacophony of primal emotions in this place. She embraced the paralyzing fear she felt on the cusp of death until all of it overwhelmed her and redirected into a shattering scream more powerful than anything she's ever felt, that even pieces of her own body began to tear open.

Arris began to move with an uncanny will as her cybernetics transformed her with Dark Side energy into something closer to a cybernetic beast.

Allyson Locke

 

[Allyson Locke]

//: Arris Windrun //:
//: Attire //:
//: Equipment //:
//: Bow & Arrows //: Contact Lens //: Jacket //: Arrows of Absence x 24 //: Bag of Absencite x 5ea //: Sword //:
//: Non Transferable "Equipment" //:
//: Ava'kash Brand //: Emperor's Echo //:

Allyson stumbled back, letting everything sink in. The shot to her stomach—after a quick check—seemed non-fatal, but only if she didn't leave it unattended much longer. Still, seeing her arrow blocked stung. That strike could've immobilized the cyborg and ended things cleanly—humanely, if that was even possible.

Instead, she stood there, eyes locked on the transformation unfolding before her.

Taeli had warned her of this—of the merging of flesh and machine into something monstrous. A creature no longer bound by reason. The Force buzzed in her ears like static. The machines were fighting back against their wielder. Had Allyson's repeated intrusions triggered this outcome?

She took another step back, bow drawn tight. She couldn't look away from Arris.

Then it hit. A scream through the Force, raw and desperate. Allyson's eyes widened, reacting on instinct. Tutaminis surged through her body, shielding her against the worst of it, but not all.

"Chit—no, no, no," she hissed, gritting her teeth.

The blast echoed from Arris, throwing Allyson back. She barely caught her footing at the edge of the platform, acid churning below. Her side still bled a golden rose ichor, now trickling from her ears as well.

She held.

The pain clawed at her, her chest buckled under the pressure, her thoughts rang with static—but Allyson didn't move. Tutaminis wasn't enough; a harsh lesson she might not survive.

Her body screamed. Her mind fought for focus. But in that moment, she saw it.

What Arris had become.

A Technobeast.

The worst-case scenario.

Allyson's jaw tightened until it felt like her teeth might break. Was this her fault? Or had Arris pushed too far?

Too many questions. No time for answers.

She didn't know if the girl could come back from this. But she knew she had to try.

Her bow rose, steady in her bruised hands. She targeted the shambling form of Arris Windrun.

With a tap of her thumb, three arrows materialized in the quiver, droid-hunting projectiles. She drew and fired them in succession: one left, one right, one dead center. Each one laced with energy, crafted to ionize, portable EMPs in arrow form.

As the third arrow left the string, Allyson pushed further.

Reaching out through the Force, she extended her gloved hand, palm trembling. Then slowly she closed her fist.

Her focus tunneled inward, locking onto the core processor in Arris' network of cybernetics. Mechu Deru burned through her veins, a sharp, invasive current of control. She aimed to sever the command node from the rest of the body. If she could shut down the processor...

Maybe it wouldn't end like this. Perhaps Allyson didn't have to kill her. But the strain was enormous.

Every second she held on, the pain flared only growing sharper, more visceral. Allyson gritted her teeth, locking her knees to stay upright, even as her vision blurred.

She would end this. One way or another.

 

[Arris Windrun]

The cyborg was left open to the Force. Her explosive connection did not cease the moment of her transformation. Not in a place like this.

She drank in it with each step forward. The poor girl underneath all the broken metal and damaged flesh was in bliss. She didn't fathom the fight, the violence, the thin, fragile thread between life and death. The first of Allyson's arrows struck--tearing her already broken arm from its shoulder.

Arris stepped closer. The second arrow was quickly deflected, and the third struck her chest and sank deep past her already damaged subdermal armor, where it lodged nicely within soft tissue. The ionizing energy slowed her, but she did not stop. It seemed most of it was held defiantly by a process Arris wasn't consciously in control of. It was allowed to burn out on its own in a cauterizing heat to close the wound.

She took another step forward, only to be stopped when the Sith reached into her again and attempted to shut it all down and sever the process itself. The cyborg struggled in place as one foot slid defiantly forward, causing the weakened servos in her right leg to break down. She buckled but did not collapse. The cyber beast's own will built up inside of her. It scratched and gnawed at the unnatural intrusion as she sparked and groaned. The co-processor, now imbued with the Force, had annexed Arris' will, and it detested this attempt to be controlled.

It sensed the threads of power that channeled through it like strings on a puppet. It saw what the Sith was trying to do, and learned. From Allyson's perspective, she watched the madwoman press forward in defiance of any attempt to control her. The Sith's control was utterly rejected. The newly created channels were seized, and the transformation continued.

With Allyson's latest interference, Arris would become something more. The co-processor wouldn't have this body rot away like a technobeast of old. It demanded more. It demanded synthesis of the natural and the created. As Arris awoke fully to the Force, so did the co-processor awaken to the world around them. A parasite, a symbiont, a partner? Too early to tell.

What might be said, however, is that what Allyson helped create was a truly beautiful hell.

Suddenly, the Cyborg shot forward with unnatural speed in a desperate leap that further damaged her left leg. A leg that has taken a considerable beating throughout this whole tournament, a leg that now swung towards Allyson's injured side with skull-crushing force put behind it. The damn thing began to shatter from the Force of the kick alone and would not survive the result--no matter what happened next.

Allyson Locke

 

[Allyson Locke]

//: Arris Windrun //:
//: Attire //:
//: Equipment //:
//: Bow & Arrows //: Contact Lens //: Jacket //: Arrows of Absence x 24 //: Bag of Absencite x 5ea //: Sword //:
//: Non Transferable "Equipment" //:
//: Ava'kash Brand //: Emperor's Echo //:

Arris didn't stop.

Allyson inhaled deeply, feeling the pain continue to bleed into her soul. Arris was Allyson's first of many things. Her first cyborg enemy, her first technobeast, and her first failed or successful creation of one. Coming to terms with any of that was going to take a lot of leaps and bounds of her own mental circus.

But that was a problem for another time.

Right now, Allyson just wanted to go home. This fight had dragged on too long, becoming far more taxing than her usual missions. Feeling the edges of her limits was almost humbling.

Almost.

She grinned defiantly, spitting out blood pooling in the back of her throat. She was Corellian. There were no limits for her kind. They thrived on impossible odds, and surrender was never an option.

Her eye watched, scanning quickly over the cyborg - mechu deru was being rejected; that was a first. Whatever was happening, it had a stronger will to survive than Allyson wanted it to shut off. Again, an annoyance that she would have to study at a later time.

Nothing ever told her no; she was the Master of Technology. Arris was genuinely fascinating.

The sudden surge of force energy was the only thing that alerted the Corellian, breaking her study of the Technobeast. Taeli was really rubbing off on her. As Arris dove towards her, Allyson could only take the brunt of the hit, using the Force to strengthen her body and absorb the kinetic Force from the blow of the kick.

Her body screamed in protest. The typically lazy Corellian was pushing herself to a point she never had before.

Reaching out, as the kick struck against her. Allyson grabbed whatever she could of Arris and kept the girl close. She wanted to be in the Corellian's face, then so be it. Grinning, Allyson looked at the frenzied cyborg and laughed.

"So it's going to be like this?" Allyson grappled, holding on tightly to the technobeast.

"Then so be it."

In one motion, one of the explosive arrows found its place in Allyson's free hand. What she was about to do was crazy, probably suicidal, but if it stopped Arris, then it was worth it.

With the close vicinity, Allyson shoved the explosive arrow into the gut of the cyborg. With the hand gripping tightly on Arris, Allyson sought to consume the Force from her - hoping to stop whatever will was protecting her.

"Ol'val, Ke'dem." Allyson whispered the farewell to her first creation. A foolish endeavor she promised silently, if she survived, to never do again.

On contact, the arrow would erupt into an explosion, hoping to consume the pair.

 

[Arris Windrun]

Pieces of Arris' left leg shattered and flew outward like shrapnel on impact. She nearly collapsed before Allyson forced her into a grapple. The cyborg shoved her damaged shoulder into the woman and used her remaining wrist to lock under the Sith's arrow-armed hand, pushing the deadly weapon up between them.

Her heightened perceptions in the Force continued to connect with the world around her, like roots that seeped deep within the earth. The hate. The fear. The most karked up euphoria. Even some of the powerful, latent Force energy of the Valley of Souls became wrapped up in the awakened spirit of whoever she was now.

Allyson would consume away, but it was like filling a cup under a waterfall. Certainly it would not last... Call it a fluke. But right now? Arris was a beacon. She had no control. This wasn't a matter of skill for her; it was raw and beastly emotion. She didn't command the Force. It fed her frenzied need to kill to survive.

Arris leaned in with a face empty of life and pressed her chest against the tip that was mere inches between them. When it erupted, she attempted to absorb as much of the explosion as she could. However, much of the fiery energy scorched and blistered her exposed skin; it melted and fused the subdermal armor beneath, scorched the inside of her throat, and struck the madwoman with immense pain.

She growled viciously like a wounded animal--wrapped her good right leg and remaining left arm around Allyson, and leaned forward still to try and sink her reinforced teeth into the Sith's throat like a desperate predator. Her jaw clenched hard, regardless of what it gripped. Her leg attempted to crush the Sith against her body. And her arm squeezed with a relentless will to hold on.

Allyson Locke

 

[Allyson Locke]

//: Arris Windrun //:
//: Attire //:
//: Equipment //:
//: Bow & Arrows //: Contact Lens //: Jacket //: Arrows of Absence x 24 //: Bag of Absencite x 5ea //: Sword //:
//: Non Transferable "Equipment" //:
//: Ava'kash Brand //: Emperor's Echo //:

They both survived the explosion.

Tutaminis and Arris are doing the same despite the Force Drain having protected them in the potentially life-ending blast. Allyson felt her skin scorched, but mending due to the force drain. Her breath came ragged as her limits caught up to her - while the Cyborg continued to press forward. Her mind no longer felt the pain that would have stopped anyone in their tracks.

Allyson did her best not to panic. Having this thing hang on her wasn't part of the plan. She had hoped that the blast would have knocked Arris away, leaving Allyson with other options.

Or even just blow the Cyborg to pieces.

Neither happened, and Allyson found herself thrown backwards, bringing the creature with her as it seemingly wrapped itself around her torso.

Her back slammed against the platform, skidding across the metal floor, away from the edge, though even that small mercy felt like a curse.

Allyson didn't have much time to reorient herself from the blast to avoid Arris' attack on the curve of her shoulder. Muscle strained back against the bite while bone struggled to not crack, but she heard it as the jaws clamped harder - her collarbone creaked and cracked.

Another surge of pain made the Corellian grit. This was beyond annoying. All she had to do was stay in the shadows and plink away till the Cyborg fell into the water.

No. She wanted to prove something.

At least the leather jacket and the shirt underneath prevented a clean break of her clavicle, which meant with a lot of pain, she'd be able to keep pushing her body too far, but the Force bridged the gap. Allyson did her best to begin wrestling with the death grip of the crazed beast.

Nothing worked, and she could feel the building pressure around her body and the air being squeezed from her. They were pinned chest to chest, and the jaws of the technobeast continued to sink into Allyson's shoulder.

Arris' weight anchored her down like a boulder. There was no space and no more time for the Corellian to think.

Her free hand moved to her side, feeling the hilt of the Sith sword Gida Luroon had given her after the first round. Remembering what the woman had explained with the blade, Allyson knew she just needed enough of it exposed. Pulling the blade four, maybe five inches from the scabbard.

Twisting her hips to the side, Allyson arched her beneath Arris, slamming the exposed edge upward. It dragged hard and quick along the underside of the Cyborg's torso - melting whatever it could in the already weakened cavity of the woman.

She could smell the burning synthflesh as the heated edge continued to cut as if Arris was made of butter.

Gritting her teeth, Allyson ignited the rest of the blade in mid-draw and, with a scream of effort, she twisted her torso, rolling partially to the side, giving her enough of an angle to kick the inside of what remained of Arris' thigh.

Allyson used this moment to pull away, her face bloody, her chest heaving as she caught whatever breath she could. She lifted herself, still struggling to remain off her knees - the sword acting as an extra limb to lean on.

"Just stop…"