First Reply Hi-Town Hustle

[Arris Windrun]

NEW VERTICA
Back Alley

Whether by word of mouth or luck, you've arrived at a back alley fight scene.

The catch? Some crazy cyborg is doing a hustle. You get 5 minutes to break as many pieces off of her as you can, and a thousand creds for each. She can't even fight back!

The last person who stepped up into the ring didn't do so well. She danced around him like a breeze, and all his punches were shameful, but surely you can do better, right?

The woman herself was showboating. Challenging the crowd. Hurling problematic insults like a Black Sun troubadour.

One of them was probably at you.

Spoiler: The Rules

FISTS OR BLUNT WEAPONS ONLY

THE FORCE IS FINE IF YOU'RE SNEAKY WITH IT

1,000 UC FOR EVERY PIECE YOU BREAK OFF HER

5 MINUTES = 10 POSTS

 

[Rel Ahn-Dross]

NEW VERTICA
Back Alley​

It was a large crowd for a Back Alley.

A Man pushed through the bodies, he was tall and thick. He wore an overcoat over a soldiers attire; cargo pants and a combat shirt underneath. There were some who knew his name though he was largely anonymous outside of certain circles.

As he came forward he'd have said...

"I know you."

...his voice laced with faint recognition...

"You fought in the Galactic Kaggath. Funny you're out here entertaining all of the street rats now."

Stepping forward past the others he shrugged off the overcoat he wore, someone tried to push past him but he'd raise an elbow and smash the figure in his peripheral across the face. A Humanoid that fell backwards with a smashed nose, blood leaked everywhere and one of his companions took him by the shoulders and hauled him back. He never looked back to see if the man he'd assaulted was going to rush him from behind.

He'd curl his right hand into a heavy fist, the knuckles cracked in response then he'd start moving towards Arris Windrun

 

[Trayze Tesar]

[dang got ninja'd - have fun you two!]

 

[Arris Windrun]

Arris was absorbed in the small-time popularity of being the back-alley show.

"I know you."

But those sweet words took her out of one moment and into the next.

"You fought in the Galactic Kaggath. Funny you're out here entertaining all of the street rats now."

She grinned. "Well, I'm glad you're entertained!" The Talusian quickly turned her attention to a pretty fan, and Arris leaned down to sign her--

The crowd shifted gears real quick when the stranger smashed another spectator and knocked him out cold. One of the 'organizers' was ready to throw down, likely to his own misadventure.

"Whoa whoa!" Arris intervened. She saw the way his fist curled, and it stirred something wild inside her. "He's cool! He's cool!"

The cyborg backed into the small space where she had been fighting. Spectactors formed a crowded ring and closed all points in and out of the alley just by body count alone. She took a few small steps backward as the same said 'organizer' explained the rules once again.

Arris braced for a hit with a stupidly happy smile.

Rel Ahn-Dross

 

[Rel Ahn-Dross]

The Back Alley could have erupted, Rel didn't care. If he was throwing punches at her or all of them it made no difference to him. When Arris stepped in, intervening on his behalf he'd have nodded once though.

Then he turned his head towards the Organizer. Listening as the rules were explained he looked back towards Arris Windrun , inspecting her carefully. Visible cybernetics and implants covered her skin, still it was interesting to think the point of this spectacle was to literally break or rip pieces of her off. Ah well, Rel didn't complain.

He noticed the smile that crossed her features as she braced for a punch she knew would come...

"What was the company slogan for your sponsor?"

...he muttered something...

"Bespin Gas, if you're not first---"

...he finished with something incomprehensible; obviously he couldn't remember the rest of the slogan but it was catchy.

As he moved closer Rel channeled the force through himself. It would subtle, flowing all the way to the hand he'd curled into a hammer of a fist. The Force could enhance a man the same as cybernetics though maybe less permanently; he was already strong though and tremendously so. In this case his use of the force was more in the field of practical application.

When he came within half an arms length from Arris he'd have planted his left foot ahead, his right arm cocked and his shoulder rotated backwards along with that side of his body before he threw it forward to generate more strength in a massive blow meant for her chest. As he threw the blow his arm gathered energy, filtering it down to the palm of his hand which had closed tight into a fist. Most people mistakenly believed that Force Lightning, a rather obvious stereotype for the Sith was all the energy the force could create; that simply wasn't true. The Energy gathered in his palm was purely ion in nature, atoms and molecules that could be bled off electrons and were universally anathema to cybernetics.. If his blow landed it might do nothing to Arris physically but the ion energy he'd gathered would discharge through her which might be more than she'd expected.

 

[Arris Windrun]

"If you're not first, you're last - Bespin Gas!"

Her emulator captured the tone and flow of the Kaggath's announcer perfectly with that one.

His fighting stance surprised her a little. It wasn't something she's experienced either in the underground or even during the Kaggath. She braced herself as he began to throw the first punch. It looked strong, but not more than she's handled. Oh--she wasn't sure anyone had an arm quite like Mercy .

However, something tickled her in the air. Arris was far from a force master. Hell, she wasn't even a novice. Untrained, lucky, and hot-headed enough that it flowed through her something ugly once or twice. It saved her ass from something quite similar to this.

"The other technique is using the energy created by the electromagnetic waves and manifesting it into a sharp surge, like an EMP. Using that on someone who has cybernetics could disable them. But to do that, you'd need to focus your mechu deru and your own will to not be disabled to protect yourself."

If she had more practice, this might've been done and over with, but alas. The cyborg thought back to the very moment that Allyson ionized her in their fight. However, she couldn't summon anything faster than he could punch. Her hands both positioned themselves to protect her chest, and she ate the strike dead-on.

Arris grunted as the force of it caused her to recoil a bit, despite her hydraulic legs. Some of the energy was either absorbed or dissipated naturally, thanks to material sciences, which she was clueless about. The rest struck gold, or at least something nearly as precious and highly conductive as well. It carried the energy deep up her arms and scorched soft tissue where her cybernetics ended.

It was a good punch, but her fingers remained intact, and the crowd went wild.

"Oh! I think we've got an earner!" Jeered the organizer. "Come on, you can hit her harder than that!"

She groaned uncomfortably, doing her best to guide the energy away from vital implants, and braced for a follow-up.

Rel Ahn-Dross

 

[Rel Ahn-Dross]

With no counter to follow his attack Rel didn't wait for Arris Windrun to recover.

Advancing he'd reach for both her arms, trying to grab them below the wrists around the forearms so that he could stretch them out. He wasn't as strong as a cyborg but Rel was still powerful, he'd went blow for blow with an Ithorian and stood upright until the end. Right now his tactics depended on speed, strength and continuing to pummel Arris while she was disoriented.

If he'd stretched her arms out he'd lift his right leg, kicking it out to plant it in her stomach then he pulled. Wrenching back his shoulder muscles bulged, he'd reef on her arms trying to pull the cybernetics from the joints that attached them to her body. His grip was strong, the heel in her stomach would provide an anchor point that he could brace himself off of while trying to rip her arms off.

Gritting his teeth the exertion would show on his features....

"Give it to me!!!!"

...it was like he was willing her arms to tear out of their sockets, his focus singular in its execution.

In the background the Organziers voice and the sounds of the crowd faded into a distant buzz.

 

[Arris Windrun]

Her opponent was quicker than he looked and managed to get some great leverage on her arms.

Arris struggled against his own pull and tried to maneuver in all sorts of ways to escape his grasp. One of the big benefits of cybernetics was the possibility of surprising joint flexibility. She managed to yank one arm free and rotated the wrist on her other arm all the way around to try and fight his leverage.

However, his grip was stronger than she expected, and that kick struck hard. The combined force of push n tug allowed him to tear her left hand right from its socket. The crowd broke out in feral, drug and alcohol fueled applause, and the organizer tossed two 500-credit chits into a pan. Both of which, and perhaps more, would be provided to the challenger once all is said and done.

The cyborg recoiled now that she was free and slid backwards with superhuman speed.

"I gotta hand it to you," she teased, "you're stronger than you look, and you look damn strong."

Sparks flew from the mechanical 'wound' on her wrist.

Rel Ahn-Dross

 

[Rel Ahn-Dross]

When her hand came off he'd lift it then toss it back behind him in the direction of the crowd. Maybe a fan would run off with it as a souvenir but probably not, Arris Windrun seemed to have soemthing of a cult following among these people. It was understandable to anyone who'd seen her fight in the Kaggath.

He laughed when she made her quip, not without a sense of humor even if it was usually grim...

"You're quite the charmer."

...his expression turned into a thin smile...

"Hands-off you're the prettiest cyborg I've met."

Advancing on her he'd raise his right arm like he intended to hook behind her head and attempt a collar tie while his left arm was poised to react.

However as he reached for her he'd duck low and shoot in on an angle so that when his right arm swept in he could hook it between her thighs and wrap it around her right leg instead. It was at this point that his left arm, poised and ready would press up for the underside of her right arm and try to landmark itself against her side. At its core he was trying for a single leg take-down however instead of pressing to throw her onto her back he'd lift to pick her up off of her feet then fall backwards what could be considered a sort of reverse suplex or 'slapjack' to slam her onto her front.

If they came down he'd scramble to reposition himself into a kneel behind her, his right knee planting against the back of her right thigh before his arms slid down to capture her foot. One would have planted across her shin the other attempting wrap around her foot and pull it into the crevice of his armpit before he torqued.

Against a regular opponent it would be considered an ankle lock submission, against her literally was attempting to twist her foot around completely and out of its socket.

 

[Arris Windrun]

"You're quite the charmer."

She replied with a grin.

"Hands-off you're the prettiest cyborg I've met."

"Oh yeah?" She chuckled. "Well, my type is 'fun' and 'shallow.' Don't think that's you, but might be something we have in common!"

She considered his movements carefully. The tough thing about not being able to fight back is that it robs her of the usual strategy of 'hit first and hit harder.' Arris was ready to dodge his attack when he feinted low, grabbed her leg, and managed to force the woman to slam face-first into some duracrete.

She held her arms out to brace the impact. The wrist crumpled against the ground, while the intact hand managed to prevent a harder impact. Though that didn't seem to be his goal. As soon as he leveraged her foot, she realized what he was up to. The cyborg fought the instinct to just kick him in the face and began to fight out of the lock.

Her foot bent harshly at the ankle. He nearly tore it off! But she broke free before he broke her and rolled to the side. The crowd barely moved to give her room as she struggled back onto her feet and favored the good leg.

"Wow, you really know your stuff!" She remarked. "Not many people get their way around my body like that. You a professional?"

Rel Ahn-Dross

 

[Rel Ahn-Dross]

She had him almost exact. He could be 'fun' but he wasn't very shallow. Ah well, missed opportunities.

After she'd scrambled away from him, escaping the ankle lock he'd come back up onto his feet and regard her from the distance that separated them...

"Just an enthusiast."

...he replied, it wasn't a complete lie. He hadn't participated in tournaments like his father or others of the creed before he'd left but he'd learned a few things and had fought in several venues.

By the way Arris Windrun held herself he knew that if she were allowed to fight back this would be much more difficult.

Moving towards her again he'd raise his right hand ahead of himself this time while cocking his left. If the objective was to break her down he'd play on the weaknesses he saw. Right now she only had one hand and was favoring a leg.

As he came closer he pumped the jab with his right hand aiming squarely for her face using it as something she could see coming, that would distract her.

Then, as the jab withdrew after one of a handful of punches his right foot would plant and he'd use it as a pivot point to swing his left side forward. His left hand, cocked until now swung wide and low in what might be mistaken as a hook to the body however his intention was to sweep it around the back of her waist instead. If successful the pivot should offset him to her right side and with the jab recoiling he'd swing his right arm in as he came around instead of pumping it again to swung it around the front of her waist.

He'd clasp his hands if they made it around her waist then, torquing his hips would fall backwards while lifting his arms to suplex her over his head and send her down onto her shoulders and neck while he came down onto his back. His hands squeezed together, he interlocked his fingers hoping to keep to maintain a hold around her waist...

 

[Arris Windrun]

An enthusiast, huh?

She didn't quite believe it.

He approached with a jab and continued to lay on more punches. Arris managed to stand her ground and flow with it. A couple of them glanced, but no harm was done. Then, he managed to sweep her again, this time with a hand that hooked her waist.

Chit! She nearly muttered it under her breath.

In a quick succession of movements, he managed to wrap around Arris's waist and threw her to the ground with a backward fall. The Talusian did her best to curl her head and let her shoulders take as much of the punishment as they could. Luckily, subdermal armor could absorb most of the shock. Her muscles and bones, too, were reinforced--though organic.

She grunted on impact. Tried to wriggle free, but his grip was strong, and he held onto her waist without faltering. The cyborg fought against instincts that told her to hit, grab, or try to reverse their situation in some other way. She wondered what he would try to do next.

The crowd gasped, cheered, and jeered.

The organizer got involved, too. "Ooooh! What an unexpected twist! What will our challenger do next? Is he going for the MONEY?!"

Rel Ahn-Dross

 

[Rel Ahn-Dross]

They hit the permacrete hard. Even Rel who had thrown himself backwards, torquing his hips to execute the suplex felt his shoulder hit hard. She'd hear him grunting.

Able to maintain his hold around her waist however he'd roll to one side so that he could turn Arris Windrun onto her stomach with arms still locked around her waist. He'd widen his stance, trying to plant his feet to either side of her legs in the process to give himself a more powerful vertical base in the process. Using his arms he'd start to 'buck' them up her torso in an an attempt to maintain the lock of his hands from her waistline all the way to the top of her sternum.

It was a painstaking process, one that required some amount of control and pressure which is why the higher he'd climb the more he would sit down into the hold.

By the time he'd reached her upper sternum, if he reached her upper sternum he'd have literally set himself into her lower back like he was using it as a seat.

Some individuals called the technique 'easing into the saddle'.

She'd hear him, muttering something then...

"Apologies."

...he had no reason to dislike her, this was all for the credits.

His hands unclinched, sliding away from one another to hook into the crevice of her armpits and landmark over her anterior deltoid region. Then he'd sit back completely while reefing up, planting his mass against her lower back in the process to apple pressure there. In competition it was a submission maneuver, putting massive amounts of pressure on the back though in this case Rel had performed a slight variation with his hands reefing up to rip her cybernetic arms from the shoulder sockets connecting them to her torso.

 

[Arris Windrun]

Well then.

Arris found the situation equal parts interesting and awkward. There was actually a stark silence in the crowd, followed by sounds that could only be described as a few individuals' bemusement. Even the organizer was shocked and stumbled over words faster than he could think them.

It was only when he began to bend her arms that grimaces turned to realization.

"He's ripping off her fuckin' arms!" The announcer screamed giddily.

The Cyborg grunted in frustration and chose a sly way out of this. Hydraulic pressure was released around her shoulders with a thought, allowing a significantly greater range of joint motion, in something that looked more like a circus act. The gambit was simple--slip out before he had a chance to reapply force. It seemed to work, and with powerful legs, she managed to push herself up.

Though there was an audible metallic tear, followed by error messages in her skull. Her damn right arm had been nearly torn from her shoulder.

"Agh!" It hurt like hell as it yanked a few connectors from her organic nerves.

To make matters worse, Rel Ahn-Dross might have chosen to stay on her back. In which case, Arris was suddenly giving the guy a piggyback ride.

 

[Rel Ahn-Dross]

While he was adept in hand to hand combat or wrestling as it were Rel would be the first to admit he didn't have a working knowledge of cybernetics. Servos, hydraulics and joint replacements. All of this was to the Cyborgs benefit.

She powered to her feet but he didn't release his hold, maintaining the hook of his arms underneath hers and up over the anterior deltoids.

It was at this point that he'd finally see an opening he could truly take advantage of.

He'd plant his feet, pulling back in the process to use leverage to his advantage and attempt to unbalance her.

Earlier he'd damaged Arris Windrun 's right ankle, he remembered how she had been favoring her other leg. After he'd attempted to pull her back into a leveraged position Rel would twist to his right, drawing his left leg across with a torque of the hips before stepping down hard for the inside of her right ankle. Aiming to plant his foot against the ankle he'd wanted to step down, forcing it to roll inwards so he could literally step on it and potentially finish what he'd started earlier.

In the same breath his arms unhooked from beneath her own; his right extending to slide down her own and grab for her forearm to try and stretch it out for him.

He'd hoped unbalancing her would make this easier.

As he tried to grapple with her right arm his left would raise, he channeled the force through his limbs again to increase his already considerable strength by a monumental amount. Then his fist came down like a hammer, aimed for the top of her right shoulder. If he could he'd blast it hard enough with his fist, which would be akin to sledgehammer now hoping to rip her arm off at its weak spot and finish what he'd started.

There wasn't much more for him to say at this point, he knew time was ticking down and he was about halfway or more before the match was called.

 

[Arris Windrun]

The situation turned worse than what Arris had expected.

Not only did Rel Ahn-Dross manage to stay with her the whole time--he found great leverage in the opportunity. First, her damaged ankle tore against overwhelming tension, causing her foot to come clean off. Next, her right shoulder crunched, and the entire farm fell to the ground.

The crowd roared. It was easily the loudest they've been all night. Arris spun to fling him off her back. She certainly edged the line of 'don't fight back' with that one, but it wasn't a move the organizer would call out. No, he was far too busy, mouth agape, and dropping four 500-credit chits into the tin where it joined the two from earlier. This meant the challenger was already up 3,000 credits in the match.

He claimed a hand, a foot, and an arm. The cyborg stumbled. It was tricky to balance on one foot, and she didn't have the benefit of using her arm for stability either.

"Damn!" She exclaimed.

At no point did she expect someone, not even him, to get this far, and there was still time left on the clock as it were. With just under half the time remaining. Arris was frustrated, despite her apparent bemusement. He had taken so much and with plenty left to go. The disadvantage of losing a foot proved a lot to contend with.

This is bad. She thought.

Arris felt a twitch in her skull. Her heart rate had spiked, and emotions swelled inside her gut, and now she felt the familiar instincts of her co-processor. It began to feed on her thoughts and emotions, and considered the 'threat' before her.

Not now... Not now... This is just a game.

She tried to stay cool--in control.

 

[Rel Ahn-Dross]

She flung him off.

Believe it or not he didn't even try to resist.

Hitting the permacrete he'd roll and come up down on one knee, kneeling.

Reaching across Rel would rub the shoulder that he'd hit the ground with. It was nothing serious but you can't be thrown and not feel a bit of bruising afterwards. Not rushing back in gave him a moment to assess Arris Windrun too.

The Crowd was roaring around them, clearly they hadn't seen anyone do this much to the cyborg.

As for Arris; she was missing her left hand, right arm and right foot. The Advantages open to Rel were clear to him.

He'd rise, standing back to his full height in no apparent rush to beat the clock knowing it would only create more drama for the crowd...

"Looks like I'm an arm up on the competition."

...he was joking, unaware of any stimuli or reactions her processor might be feeding her.

Stepping forward into a sprint he'd come at her again.

This time when he got close he'd duck his head and shoot to her right, dropping his left shoulder in the process to attempt to drive it into her abdomen. In the same breath he'd wrap his arms inwards, trying to swing them around the outside of her legs so that he could landmark them against the back of her thighs, just beneath her glutes. If that was successful he'd he powered up to stand and lift her off her feet again.

Twisting around when he stood, maintaining a hold on her he'd have come around to slam her down onto her back while he took a position inside of her guard.

Another beginning to what was likely some groundwork.

 

[Arris Windrun]

"Looks like I'm an arm up on the competition."

"Heh. How about a leg up?"

Rel Ahn-Dross wasn't in for the usual Arris response. No, this time the cyborg used her remaining foot to launch into a powerful jump and flipped over him.

Even in her current condition, jumping was easy enough. Sticking the landing? Now that was an entirely different outcome. Arris rolled onto the ground behind him and scuffed up her chassis. She could only assume what he had planned would've been brutal and impressive.

It was too early to tell if her gambit paid off, because Arris struggled to rise quickly.

 

[Rel Ahn-Dross]

Rushing forward she'd jumped over him.

He'd have lost his balance trying to shoulder tackle her, rushing forward only to discover there was no check to his balance. Stumbling he'd have fell and landed on his chest with a grunt.

Rolling over onto his back Rel started to rise. He'd kneel first, muttering something then admitting...

"One good leg and you still have me going head over heels for you."

...honestly the banter was fun but he deserved to go crashing down onto his chest. Up to that point most of his tactics had been more methodical and reserved in the sense he'd hadn't gone and rushed her. She'd definitely made him pay for that insofar as falling flat on his face was concerned.

She looked like she was struggling though. Only one of her limbs was what could be considered whole at this point.

Advancing again, his steps more measured this time as Rel came closer to Arris Windrun . There was nothing fancy this time. As he came closer he'd reach out of her.

Using his left hand he'd swing his arm around from her right knowing she could impede him with an arm that wasn't there. He wanted to hook his arm back around behind her head, over her neck in what was essentially a single collar tie save that instead of pulling her head down and lifting his right arm in a barrage of uppercuts he'd have tried to draw her head down and then pull her in. As he did this he'd step in and to the side, his left so that he could try and draw her head into the crevice of his right armpit allowing him to jockey for leverage.

It was essentially a forward headlock. If he could manage that Rel went to work on try to hook his right arm through the crevice of her left so that he could lift it higher. He'd reach for her left forearm in an attempt to curl her arm back behind her shoulder-blade which would allow him to take his right hand, replace it on her forearm and administer an armlock. All this so that when his left hand was free he could raise it up and hammer it across, dropping it down towards the back of Arris arm in an attempt to use his lock as a sort of fulcrum that might eventually tear her other limb loose.

 

[Arris Windrun]

One escape did not amount to a second.

Arris didn't even find the time. In a quick and skillful execution of moves, Rel Ahn-Dross found the cyborg in a headlock. to his great advantage, she just didn't have the time to consider her dwindling and far too limited set of options.

He leveraged his strength and hammered hard against the woman's remaining arm. The exact cyberware she brought into this little hustle wasn't anything to write home about. Cheap chit. Nothing she'd be sorry to lose. The thin exterior plating bent and dented inward, and wires inside the joint were severed by splintered metal.

The joint started to come loose, and Arris struggled in his grip.

She would try one last gambit to escape it. "Let's... do this!"

The Talusian scoundrel found placement with her remaining foot and kicked off the surface with no small measure of power. Her goal was to try and force him to lose his balance, and either let go of her or join her on the ground. If nothing else, the attempt may've delayed his next blow to her weakened arm.