He stood prepared.
When they gave the order, he was ready.
Prove to us your merit, not as a killer, but as a warrior. Alkor was clad in the bare armor of a Snowtrooper, the standard issue garb for subzero world operations. It had no frills or gimmicks, just the bare bones tools a body needed to survive in the harsh climate. Alkor's aim was not to achieve victory, and through victory, to glorify Imperial Order.
Utility over show. His arms were a
Bozdugan blaster rifle slung at his back, and a simple, white bladed lightsaber that hung at his hip. Beyond that, he carried no ordinance, and had no communication to those outside.
He looked at the world below through the simulacra of his helmet, crystalline structures forming across the treated glasteel. When the Mandalorian spoke, he was surveying the wastes and machinery that smattered the world below. Opportunities to hide, opportunities to fight. It was an ideal warzone.
Two enter. One leaves.
And then, the floor gave out. He felt the rush, almost like a neutered version of an orbital drop. Fluids rushed toward his brain and the dull ache numbed his extremities. The sudden urge to empty his bladder came and went, and moments later he rolled in the snow, a deject pile of armor and weaponry.
His helmet blared an alarm in his ears, which did nothing to help with the headache from the initial fall. Alkor shook it off and began slowly moving his limbs, checking for any hint that a bone had broken or worse.
When he was certain he was intact, he started to rise. Everything ached: it ached, but it was functional. Pain was interference and nothing more. He could live with pain.
In a crouched position, he looked out at the area around him, skimming the horizon for any sign of life.
"For the Empire," he murmured, focusing on the words to dull his pain.
They were caught in the icy maw of an ancient, forgotten beast. Ilum's frigid breath buffeted him, and if not for the fur and insulated lining of his armor, the man would have started to freeze over within ten minutes. The bare bones HUD told him that much, at least. Hollowed out skeletons of First Imperial technology mingled with massive snow drifts to create a labyrinthine battleground.
Alkor waited patiently to see how the other man fared. If he'd died before he hit the ground, the fight would be short.
Tristan Evore
Alkor Centaris
vs
