Duel Galactic Kaggath Quarterfinals: Kyric vs Koda Fett

[Mauve]

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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… Yyes 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, IT'S THE JEDI WONDER, KYYYYYYRIIIIIC VERSUS THE ONE. THE ONLY. KOOOOODAAAAAA FEEEEETTTT!"

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

Kyric | Koda Fett

 

[Koda Fett]

Mandalorian Armour | Blaster Carbine | Sunshot Pistol | Disruptor Pistol | Yossubi Gas | Kushute Grenade | Recon Droid
​

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Being deployed into the arena, Fett began examining his new environment.

The openness of the arena provided an advantage, with freedom of greater movement and clear lines of sight. Though with the platforms floating on the water, it made for turbulent terrain. Beneath them, the acidic, poisoned water would broil whatever came into contact with it. His armour would hold, maybe, for a time. How long, Fett was less interested in finding out. If ever in that sludge pool though, the worry was the swarm of firaxan sharks - used in blood sport, there was no doubting their insatiable hunger. On top of all that, the show runners and sponsors enjoyed interfering.

At this table, every card was at play.

He tossed the spherical recon droid into the air, it whirring to life and ascending higher and panning around. With Switchblade defeated, seemingly scrapped, it was left to become a trophy from the last round. Koda would make good use of it.

"Let's make this one quick," he mused.

Raising the sunshot pistol, the bounty hunter charged the rail accelerator and sent a volley of bolts down range. Flying at speeds faster than one might expect. At first, that is.

Kyric

 

[Kyric]

Thirty minutes somehow proved to be both too much and too little time between rounds. The hyper-lethal line up left on full display shortly after the second match promised agony no matter how you cut it. Names like Koda Fett, Allyson Locke, and Mercy were practically household at this point; the sorts of people you didn't want to piss off if you liked living, really. But even the dark horses of the Kaggath promised a lethality fitting for the tournament. Fenn Stag managed to eliminate the champion of the Mandalorian Empire. Arris Windrun went even with the Jedi Hero, Creed. And that Antar guy managed to stick around like an old credchip you desperately wanted to do away with.

There were no easy fights left.

Everyone and everything spread across the poisoned waters fought desperately to win. More than victory and treasure awaited the winner. Glory incarnate, given unparalleled prominence by the endless sea of sentients across the stars watching each battle.

How many of them watched Kyric now? Who across the stars wanted to see him win? And who prayed silently for his downfall?

The kiffar gently squeezed the hilt of Resolute over and over. His thumb pressed to the flat of the single-edged blade, nothing more than a means to keep his oft-wandering mind on his current problem, as opposed to the slew awaiting him at the end of this match. He peered up from his squatting position at the beskar-clad bounty hunter standing opposite the ring.

Koda Fett.

Koda freaking Fett.

A man who forged himself into an unfeeling killing machine. No other bounty hunter across the stars boasted his long list of successful contracts. Even fewer can claim to have captured or killed as many Force Sensitives. This was a man who walked in the shadow of death. An errant promise of doom manifested like a living barrier between Kyric and the summit.

The Jedi felt himself trembling not unlike his very first battle. A primal part of his brain understood better than his thinking-mind the trouble that awaited the start of their match, but Kyric stood firm. This was another opportunity to embody courage for those without. To stand unwavering when faced with the impossible.

"FACING OFF ACROSS THE PLATFORMS, IT'S THE JEDI WONDER, KYYYYYYRIIIIIC VERSUS THE ONE. THE ONLY. KOOOOODAAAAAA FEEEEETTTT!"

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

Kyric ran his left hand down the length of his blade and charged the weapon with a surge of emerald lightning. He pushed himself up to his feet and leaned right, only to shift his weight and dash out to his left the moment Koda opened fire. The bolts flew true in his vision, not a single fracture or shifting-image afforded to the kiffar by the Force's grace. His opponent's blaster—constructed with an anti-force element of a kind—cut through precognition, shatterpoint, and danger sense entirely.

The kiffar outpaced the first shot by a hairbreadth. He cut in toward Fett at that, the second passing directly through where Kyric should've been had he followed through with his arcing sprint. Leaping over the third, he spun in the air to avoid the fourth, landed, and sliced his blade in a falling strike that split the fifth in twain.

Feth, Kyric narrowed his eye and side-stepped another incoming bolt. He won't miss if I don't dodge. Luck ain't on my side here. He managed to cross half the distance between them in the opening salvo, but each step made avoiding the fast-flying bolts all the harder. With a deep breath, Kyric flickered and disappeared. He reappeared two dozen paces behind the bounty hunter. The Jedi stood with his back to the poisoned water. Channeling the unseen powers of the Force through him, empowered by the Nexus' endless flood of energy, the kiffar pushed his left hand forward at the beskar-clad warrior.

The water behind Kyric surged around him in a powerful wave. It crashed directly for Koda Fett like a writhing sea-monster deep from the core of Naboo.

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Tags: Koda Fett | Mauve
Force Bonds: Bernard | Capris Halcyon | Lord Creuat
Equipment: "Aspis" Pattern Combat Shield | Resolute | Ion Pistol | Vibroknife | CryoBan Grenade x2 | Thermal Detonators x1 | Incendiary Grenade x2

 

[Koda Fett]

The recon droid's spying eye proved useful.

Kyric vanished from view in a flickering haze, disappearing. Fett could not wholly dismiss some manner of cloaking, remaining vigilant on the space in front of him with the blaster pistol raised and ready. The helmet's sensors detected nothing, not even with the rapid function cycling. It may have been a fraction too slow to rely on the sensors, with Kyric gaining that thread-fine advantage. Though as Kyric reappeared, blinking back into existence behind him, the bounty hunter snapped back around.

He continued firing, slamming his finger down on the trigger.

Paying his thanks to the melted through remains of Switchblade could wait.

Though with Jedi, telling what came next was nearly impossible. A surging wave of acidic, poisoned water was a sure surprise. It shot towards him in a blast, eating at the surface of the platform. His armour might withstand the acid but the physical force alone was going to send him hurtling through the air, skittering across the platforms at best, sinking down low into infested waters at worse.

His jetpack sparked, sprouting flames that hoisted him into the air. Though the barreling wave had not completely been evaded; acidic spray splattered against the beskar-ciridium, proving Koda right, and that awfully dense armourweave withstood the effects as well. For now. The sunshot pistol, however, was eaten up, warped and distorted in his hand until dropping it altogether became the best choice.

When it met the water's surface, the sharks came chopping. Eager for anything.

Fett came rocketing down, closing the distance and joined Kyric on a shared platform now. The roaring arc of grasping tendrils that was the fire blasting from his wrist bridged the distance, with his spare hand grasping for his blaster carbine and sending another salvo of blaster bolts towards the Jedi - this time with the yossubi gas inserted.

Kyric