Private No one can hear you in the Outer Rim

[Brie Jaxx]

Spoiler: Before the Bell Rings

To any approaching ships, the asteroid station looked calm and quiet and just like one of many trading outposts in the Outer Rim. The giant gas planet gave the asteroid belt an orange background in the otherwise black and silent space around it. As an outlander, a trading station in the Outer Rim were never a place you had you feet on longer than you had to. You finished your business, maybe grabbed a beer on the way out of a shady bar and then made the wise choise to leave. That was, if you were not in schakles.

The station were all but quiet. Smugglers conducted their business, those that were smart followed the advice to then leave. Bibbers drinking themselves under the table or putting up a useless argue with the bouncer. Space pirates and other questionable individuals hooking up with a pleasure girls. So it went on, without any trace of authority other than hired guards whos morale were since long thrown out in the void of space.

Nestled in between a large rock formation and connected to the rest of the outpost were an old square arena. No, not that sort of arena...

The dreadful and ominous noise of crowds cheering and shouting reached Brie's ears from above. She sat quietly leant forward on a box in the rusty cage that were about to be hauled up through a gap in the sandy floor of the arena. Her heart raced and she tried to think of what another captive, a sullustan who had been locked up here for longer, had told her before. That it was not fights to the death, at least not with new ''recruits'' that were interesting to assess the first matches and later deciding their fate. It made her feel sick. Thoughts raced through her head of who or what she would need to fight. She needed a plan to get out, before the freaks running this show grew tierd of her.

Looking down at her hands, the black tape around them looked utterly out of place. She wore a grey t-shirt and a pair of black shorts. She had actually been outfitted with a dark grey forearm protector for the right arm and a similar protector for the left shank, both made out of duraplast. Her blonde hair was tied back. Suddenly, the cage begun its way to the top and she stood up. She took a few deep breaths. Was she frightened? Of course! Deep within, she were terrified like any other young girl would be but she also knew that she needed to act and be strong outwards to even stand a minute into the match.

The bright arena lights hit her when the cage appeared from the gap and were automatically opened in front of her when it stopped. She threw some glances around the arena as the crowds noise almost deafened her, her opponent had not arrived, yet...

Scherezade deWinter

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Brie Jaxx​

She liked these gritty places. No matter how high people decided to rank her as among the Agents of Chaos despite her not holding any official title among them, Scherezade still found herself time and time again returning to the lowly places. The places that reeked of people's body odor and sweat, where things were illegal in more star systems than they were not, and where money traded could mean the difference between life and death for those who weren't even there at all.

This specific place was new to her. Someone had tipped her off about its existence, and when she needed to kick a few buckets around, she'd decided to go check it out. Quietly, she'd hoped it would provide more entertainment than Coruscant had lately. She was in no mood to return there to get things out of her system, and so she'd signed up for this place instead.

In terms of what they'd promised her, the fighters actually knew how to fight, and though some of them had been taken, they were well treated. Scherezade was supposed to care about those things, but she didn't. What she wanted was someone who could hold their own in combat, someone to make her really sweat.

To even the playing field just a little, she'd promised not to use her weapons or the Force, though she still wore her armor. And since there was time to kill, she made her way to the bar, where she had to wrestle the tender to just give her cream and not something with liquor in it. When he finally gave it to her and she only had a moment to sip, the cheers of the audience made her look.

Apparently, she was up. And no one had told her.

Taking the rest of her creamy drink down in a single gulp, Scherezade elbowed her way. She hated being late, even when the late being was 20 paces away.

But the woman that was to be her combat partner made her pause. She looked… Lost. Scherezade was used to unwilling combatants in the pits, she was used to those who wanted to be anywhere else, she'd even seen people soil themselves on more than one occasion. But the lost'ness of it was new to her.

"Need a moment before we start?" she offered, much to the changing of the boo'ing crowds, to whom she flipped the bird, causing them to throw food left overs and disposable cups at the women.

 

[Brie Jaxx]

The sand were far away from the smooth sun-drenched beach sand one could imagine existed on paradises like Spira, but what did she know as she had never sat her foot on one such place. As her glance fell on the ground around her, here and there, there was pieces and tatters from earlier fights. Pieces of broken armour, remains of teared clothing but nothing useful to spice the fight up for the maniacs that enjoyed this kind of entertainment.

The cage disapeared behind Brie and the gap were closed, leaving no escape out of the arena. The moment after, a door across the arena were opened and the unmistaking silhouette of a woman appeared. The bright lights revealed her fully as she entered the arena to the thundering noise of the crowds. Oh my. She were tall, and the suit of armour looked professional. To say that she had a bad feeling about this was an understatement.

With fists starting to clench, maybe instinctively, she gulped deeply and tried to control the nervousness that spread inside her.

''Look... I'm not going to fight you.'' she stated firmly under a quelled nervous breath, before the woman made the spectators throw paper mugs at them.

Her statement realy could land in either way with the woman. Either provoking her or just loosing interest, the later probably being a very slim chance. Brie stood her ground, though. While they were alert and fixed upon the woman, her eyes might have showed the quelled nervousness inside her. She awaited the womans response under the shouts from the impatient crowd that now demanded the ''show'' to start.

Scherezade deWinter

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Brie Jaxx​

Not going to fight her? Scherezade looked at the other woman, her expression clearly confused this time. They were in a ring. Even if the other woman wasn't there by choice, not fighting was only going to result in her death. She even had the look of someone who could easily be snapped into two like a twig. But, just because Scherezade could do it, didn't mean she was going to. Mostly, because that was just boring.

Standing where she was, she continued to look, still ignoring the boo'ing crowd. It was a good thing the cage mostly protected them. No doubt in other situations, they'd already be throwing food at their heads and faces.

"You sorta have to," Scherezade said, and took a step forward, flexing her arms. She was ready. But she needed the other girl to be ready too. Especially since if it looked too one sided, all the gambling sharks were going to have major issues with whoever was the one to emerge victorious.

"Punch me," she encouraged her, opening her arms to give her the clear opening, "Aim for the jaw, so it looks like you're actually trying!"

 

[Brie Jaxx]

The reason was unclear why the young girl stood with feets like frozen into the sandy ground of the arena, when the other woman approached her seemingly eager to start the fight. If it was because of pure fright or headstrong mulishness. It might have been a bit of both. The spacer girl had definately faced danger before, but when those situations had occured she had relied on being ingenuitive, nimble and quick. She had never before been put in a position where her means of escaping were non-existent. Where there was no way out. Like in this insane entertainment some seemed to enjoy.

She held an otherwise soft and settled but now unyeilding gaze upon the taller woman. It was almost like she tried to tease and taunt her, with her open stance and words of actually trying. She didn't like that! The crowds yelled for the punches and kicks to start fly. Her desperate insight that there was no other way to continue this. All that slowly pushed her over an invisible edge, making her mind reconcile with the fact it was faced with. Her fists clenched tighter around the tape in her hands, stance imitating her opponents and then...

A swift right fist came flying from slightly beneath the other womans jaw and, just as encouraged, aimed for it.

Oh, chit!

The first sudden thought, wether it was a hit or not, was what she had done and if the other woman was alright. She quickly disregarded it though, as the feeling of what was about to come catched up in the fraction of a second. In what little time she had to prepare herself, she thought of whatever defence that came to her mind. Her best bet would probably be to try to exhaust the other woman by dodging her moves and respond whenever a moment was opened. The die was cast.

Scherezade deWinter

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Brie Jaxx​

She'd known the punch was coming. After all, she'd been edging the woman to do it already, and do it, and did her best to ignore the shouts from the crowd, and just as the fibers in the other woman's muscles began to move, Scherezade had known, and had made sure she would not budge. The woman's fist landed right on her jaw, and Scherezade's face moved sideways with it, blood and spit erupting from her mouth like a fountain as she did so.

But when she straightened her head again, it was impossible to ignore the large smile on her face, the decoration of injury enhancing the intensity of the predator's look.

"Finally," she half growled at the other woman, and then launched forward. There was no need to use weapons here; there was more than one way of opening a humanoid body in a fight such as this, and knives, while lovely, weren't quite necessary.

Instead, Scherezade launched forward, her arms ready to just grab the other woman, lift her, and dump her on the floor as hard as possible.

 

[Brie Jaxx]

Surprised. Surprised and rather impressed with her bullseye hit, let it be offered to her, Brie stared at the wound she had caused the other woman. Crimson blood seep from the corner of her mouth, but it didn't seem to affect the woman more than the appearance of a wound. The crowd shouted and cheered frantically that the first blood had been spilled and demanded an action-filled continuation.

Even though surprise was the first emotion that had came to her, she were very quickly reminded that she now stood before the much probable fact to be violently mangled. More so when the other woman, like nothing had happened to her, glared back and half growled announcing her turn. She almost turned beastly. Surprise turned into fright and she felt the adrenaline begin to pump of the cataclysmic emotions that erupted in her.

The next second, without enough distance and time to react, Brie felt the ground disappear beneath her and gasped of fear and shock. The woman had charged forward and lifted her up, high up over the head. One thought raced through Brie's mind; this was going to hurt. Like, realy hurt. The brace for the impact maybe just did it worse, as she were slammed front first down into the sandy ground of the arena, the impact knocking her breath out for a second. Close-bitten, she cried out in agony and moaned while the breath slowly came back to her. Without the sand, the bodyslam could have been much worse.

The woman had all the chances at her for a good while before she would be able to try to get up and continue, wiping off sand from her face and denying and throwing that underdog out of the window.

''Schutta...'' she swore under her breath, looking angrily at the woman while wiping her mouth with the underarm and back of her hand.

Scherezade deWinter

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Brie Jaxx​

The crowd roared as Scherezade lifted the other woman up. She smiled at them as she turned around just a little bit, showing off before throwing the other one's body at the ground. More roars came from the crowd. She thought she could hear a few of them changing their gambles now.

In the moments that she remained on the ground, Scherezade walked around her prey, raising her arms to bring on more sound from those who surrounded them. She knew how to work a crowd in a place such as this. This… This was almost the closest thing she had to any kind of a home. The pits were how she survived those early months, and where she went back to when freedom permitted it.

Hearing the swear from the other woman, Scherezade paused in her moves, and stared her down. Both were standing now, though the SIthling was hardly the one that had to catch up with any breath.

"Is that the best you can do?" she grinned, and before giving her a moment to actually decide whether to even answer at all, shouted, "IS THAT THE BEST YOU CAN DO?!"

This time, Scherezade didn't aim for the middle section. This time, she crouched and quickly shot forward with her right leg, aiming to land a kick right on the woman's kneecaps and see which side they bent towards.

 

[Brie Jaxx]

While down catching her breath, she saw the legs of the other woman circling her like a feline predator around its prey. It was indeed a vulnerable situation she was in and she laid there expecting another hard strike. The kick or punch never came, but instead the woman seemed to get the crowd even more in exaltation. That gave her the moment to stumble to her feet and regain what at least resembled a fighting posture. She would not make the same mistake again.

Then, the woman shouted at her. Twice, asking if that was all that she got. That irritating smirk told of her enjoyment in all of this. It gave Brie a bad feeling and sent chills down her spine. Was she a criminal? Laid her allegiance with the First Order or any other despicable organization in this crazy galaxy?

Brie did not have the time to answer with more than an angry and sour glare at the woman before she were charged at again. Just in time before one or both of her legs probably could have been fractured in some way, she made a nimble leap to the right and charged quickly ceased a moment to charge at the woman from behind. She attempted two or three punches to her side and the area of her kidneys, before backing away and checking for a hit assessment and reaction. That was supposed to be a good area to hit, according to another salvager she once had met. First time using it for real, she were not sure if it was powerful enough though.

''The kark's wrong with you, hutt-spawn?!'' she spat out, without thinking that she had just insulted the woman. It might have been a devastatingly rash and bold move. Brie took some more steps back and prepared herself for another charge, she thought of how to counter the woman.

Scherezade deWinter

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Brie Jaxx​

Yes. She was enjoying this. But, she wasn't quite enjoying it enough. Scherezade was used to opponents who were at least as cocky as her, or at least proved a stronger challenge. She knew that if she moved too much, if she hurt the other girl too much, she could easily kill her.

And that was far from what she wanted.

That was why she'd gone for the kneecaps - a broken kneecap makes you a useless fighter, and the only way they'd let someone like that stay in the ring was if it was an execution. This, was not supposed to be an execution, or the financial compensation should have been at least ten times higher.

The girl evaded Scherezade's kick, bringing the Sithling to smile. Good.

She stood there for a moment as the punches were delivered to her side; part of the perks of being a big woman was that she had both layers of fat and muscle protecting that area very well. Once the punches were done and the comeback was delivered, the Sith was smiling again.

Taking a step towards the woman, she spoke just above a whisper, ensuring that it would only be her that heard it.

"If you want this to be over, play along. You will come out of this alive," were the words.

And without waiting for the answer, Scherezade broke her promise, and released a Force Push towards the woman, intending to slightly flatten her against the cage's side.

 

[Brie Jaxx]

''Wh-''

The next thing she knew was the sandy ground disapearing beneath her feet and that she flew backwards, an invisible force pushing and hitting her in the chest. She hit the bars of the cage with a loud thump and an indescribable pain hit her in the back and head. She fell slap-bang to the ground but by now knew the vulnerability of being stuck eating dirt, so she pushed herself up on all fours against the cage. The spectators cheered through the trick that the other woman had showed. She must have been some kind of force user, a lying one that was.

Brie tried to stumble to her feet and used the bars to help her in the process. The woman had not been moved by her punches and she desperately tried to figure out how to continue the 'fight'. The thoughts of wondering where she came from and who she realy was, was exchanged by the ones on how to get the hell out of here. She were both angry and frightened at the same time. The hit made her pant slightly and trying to regain herself.

''You lie... Wh- why would I trust you...?'' she said under the pain still coming from the bars to her back. It was barely possible for her to stand on her feet, but the bars ironically helped her some. Throwing her against the bars certainly was a great way to show that she would get out alive.

Scherezade deWinter

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Brie Jaxx​

"I'm not lying," Scherezade rolled her eyes as she closed the distance between the two again. If Brie Jaxx wouldn't struggle too much, she'd lift the woman over her head.

The promise she had broken had been to the rules of the pit fights. She was, indeed, using the Force. But the woman she was fighting reacted like a caged animal, untrusting. It made sense, in more ways than. Scherezade wouldn't have trusted from a random warrior in an illegal fighting pit either.

The problem was that there was no other way to go about it. "The fights here are generally to the death," she growled, reminding her opponent about how it usually worked. But it didn't always end in death.

If she were still holding the girl, she would simply throw her down to the ground again. "You can come out with bruises, or you can come out in a garbage bag. Your choice."

Smiling, she looked at the other woman again. "I can offer you a much better place than this. And training."

 

[Brie Jaxx]

Brie stood frozen by the bars as the woman approached her once again. She could not give the taller woman more than brief shy glances from her otherwise dodging blue gaze. Inside, she braced herself for a punch or another kick or something. Somehow, accepting the painful situation that she was in. Even though the woman instilled so much fear, she were beginning to realise that she had to be brave through it. Until the pain stopped.

That was when what she hade braced for suddenly came. She were picked up above the womans head as she explained shortly but in brutally honesty how things used to work around here. So, she had been here or done this before. The next second, the ground closed in and she slammed into the ground with her back first. It left her breathless for a moment, before she tried to shuffle away from the woman with what energy she had left.

''How... How many have you put in those... garbage bags...?'' were her answer, or counter question right out of the blue. An answer to the chilling fear that she felt.

''Y- yeah? You... You beat me up, and then want to offer me something? You realy are insane...'' she said, and tried to aim some kicks as hard as she could to the womans knees. Trying to keep her from approaching her again.

Anger. Fright. Distrust. All of them were bubbling inside her in the sight of the brunette woman in front of her. Her sentences did not make the slightest sense. The choices of just bruises or a garbage bag were pretty easy, but why would she offer her something? A better place? It was not like she were here by her free will.

Scherezade deWinter

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Brie Jaxx​

"Yes," Scherezade laughed. Her words were aimed at the woman on the ground, "I've probably killed more people than you've ever met in your short life."

The audience needed a better show. Scherezade sent a wide kick to the girl, something that looked grander than it actually was, doing her best to slow her foot down at the last possible moment.

Was she insane? Sure. Quite a few people would try to claim that. She didn't really care though. Once… Once she had, a time that was not that long ago but still felt like it'd been several lifetimes. But she had zero intentions of focusing on that right now.

"So play dead, otherwise you might get dead," Scherezade warned her, sending another kick towards the woman.

 

[Brie Jaxx]

The laugh and words from the other woman sent chills down her spine. Someone that offered you a ''much better place'' usually didn't want to kill you, though. That fact would have given her some comfort, if it wasn't for her being all caught thinking of how she would maybe end up in one of those garbage bags.

That was when the wide kick came. Bringing up the arm to shield her head, the kick hit her in the side below the arm and made her topple over from her half-sitting position and into the ground once again. The pain coming with it brought her to a squeal of agony. However, it felt subdued which in turn brought some credibility to the womans statements. What would now stay at a bruise could easily have been a broken rib, was the feeling.

Her thoughts raced while laying there, praying for the pain to dissipate faster than it did. She realy didn't want to be here any longer and while her body wanted to cry, she simply could not knowing she had to survive this. She had to. For the constant mission she had sworn herself to complete. Someday. She could not allow herself to die. Not now and not in a place like this.

Carefully looking up, Brie saw the second kick from the woman coming and quickly rolled to the side and away from her to avoid it. All dirty and sandy now, she stumbled to her feet as quick as she possibly could and bolted towards the woman. She threw herself towards the waist of the woman in an attempt to fell her to the ground. It was a pure gamble wether she would succeed or not, but she had to do something. If succeeding she would try to get on top of her for a few hits against her face. The free hit in the beginning had at least broken some blood.

Scherezade deWinter

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Brie Jaxx​

Scherezade let the other woman tackle her to the ground, offering no actual resistance. A few people noticed that and began to boo, but she ignored them.

"Good girl," she purred into the woman's ear, not blocking her until she went for her face. Scherezade wasn't much in a mood to explain why she'd let some unknown woman draw more blood from her. "This is your chance to tell me no," she said quickly, deciding to let one of the face punches through anyway.

"If you want me to get you out of here, drive your elbow into my ribs," she winked, and then began to pretend to struggle against her, to get her off, "You're going to have to trust me for a few minutes after that. Once that's done, you're going to be free."

Letting another blow hit her face, she spat to the side. "Pinkie promise!"

 

[Brie Jaxx]

She were driven on by the realising of successfully tackling the evil woman to the ground. Making a last ditch effort to get the upper hand for at least a short moment, she didn't care wether the woman just let her or not. Maybe there laid some truth to what she said, to just take a dive and play dead right there on the spot. But how could she trust her? Trust were difficult to earn as it was, in this cruel galaxy of chaos. She trusted no one.

''NO!'' she exclaimed as forcefully as she could, in a mix of anger and fright to have to fight for her life. Sweat were breaking and adrenaline was flowing through her body as she thought about that she might have done something too rash.

"If you want me to get you out of here, drive your elbow into my ribs,"

The sentence caught her a bit off-guard for a second, but she soon complied by the womans request and drove the elbow into her ribs. How much could this woman take before just budging and backing out for a rest?!

''Pinkie promise!''

Alright, that was wierd! How could she be so untouched, Brie thought and tried to grab her arms to pin them to the ground and then leaning in a bit closer.

''Why should I trust you?!''

Scherezade deWinter