Private Untamed

[Lina Ovmar]

There was something inherently freeing about being back on Void Station. Kopatha Casino was probably one of the few establishments of Lina's that did attract those in the lower echelons of society but even then it was done with some air of class. The main floor was dedicated to numerous games, from high stakes sabaac tables and animated games of dejarik to betting points for sports across the galaxy.

Upstairs hosted a series of private customizable rooms, all with privacy and the highest security for those more exclusive games, typically used by the local gang or pirate leaders of the sector to settle scores. This floor also hosted Lina's own private entertainment area and the Handler's office through which all information from the Bothan sector and Mara Corridor flowed.

It was not these floors, however, that the Lady Lina graced her presence with today though, instead she descended to the lowest level, stepping into a different atmosphere entirely. Buzzing with a ravenous energy as spectators leaned forward howling their encouragements and wailing their despairs as credits passed from one hand to the next.

Lina could hear the fight in the pit beneath them before she could see it, the distinct crunch of a broken nose, the sickening slap of a fist against flesh. Bouncers cleared her a path to a box, granting her the best view of the fight and its watchers. She settled into her seat, eyes trailing the room before shifting to the fight as the Handler, a brown haired Bothan leaned towards her, updating her on the key notes for the news that travelled to him.

Jhyrack

 

[Jhyrack]

In the motion and chaos of the crowd, braying, convulsing, was an island of stillness. Jhyrack sat on a stand; most of the seats behind were too narrow for his frame. As everyone cheers and shouted, only his eyes moved. He appraised the fighting with intense focus. The dance below became a blur. Two much smaller fighters danced around a bulky houk. They were faster and coordinated, darting in and out together.

The houk, however, was a seasoned pit fighter. He was bleeding profusely from several gashes, one eye was puffy and sealed shut. He still kept his footing. A small finally formed from his frozen expression, revealing the whites of his fangs. His tail gave a flick. Jhyrack was enjoying this.

His focus was finally pulled, following the entourage as they made for the box. He waited for a few moments before standing tall. Today Jhyrack wore a simple grey shirt-sleeved tunic that hung loose from his broad shoulders. Nothing to mark the with heritage of his people. Maneuvering through the crowd was no easy feat, but he made his way to the box.

Two guards at the door stepped into his path. Jhyrack grinned down at them. Remaining in place, he turned back towards the fight. It broke the line of potential aggression between them.

“These no-gree…they are very good. I must fight one,” he expressed over the heads of the guards.

There was a loud crack from the pit floor. Jhyrack had smiled because he had recognised the hour’s change in stance. The larger pit fighter had finally formed a plan. The crowd jeered as the Noghri flailed on the ground. The houk drove his foot down into the creature’s spine and it stopped moving.

“Perhaps not that one.”

Lina Ovmar

 

[Lina Ovmar]

"Trade coming out of the Empire has slowed." Rokest's deep voice rumbled beside her "Pirates are getting restless with less valuable targets to hand. Three civilian ships have limped in in the last week, casualties astronomically high. They are bored."

"Get me the names of the ships and their captains. I have use a use for restless pirates, something to fatten their belly long enough to keep the civilians free of harm."

Rokest let out a low grumble of disapproval. "Working with these pirates is dangerous."

"Working with me is dangerous." she countered her eyes tracking the movement of a maldrani. He was impossible to miss, as tall as he was wide shifting through the crowd, as their jeering increased in volume, sensing the fights end was near. Lina sat back in her chair, not hiding the fact she was watching him. Rokest followed her gaze, a huff of annoyance escaping his snout.

"Who is he?" she asked him.

"I do not know. He has not been here long enough." Lina shot the bothan a look of disappointment.

"An eight foot tall maldrani walks into your casino and you don't make a point of finding out who he is? Come now, Rokest, you are far better than that." The bothan had the decency to look ashamed as the guards snapped into position blocking the strangers path. Lina did not think for a second that he could not pick them up and snap them without breaking a sweat, though she was grateful her did not.

She turned her eyes back to the fight as the Noghri's spine was crushed. She let out a low chuckle at his words. "I'm sure we can arrange something, though I wonder if there is more to your want to fight? You're challenging the house, after all." She called back, gesturing at the guards to let him through. Rokesh tensed beside her, baring his teeth briefly.

Jhyrack

 

[Jhyrack]

"There is always more to what anyone says or does," Jhyrack said. He stepped into the box. His presence was oppressive in the small space.

Jhyrack looked down at the glimmer of bared teeth. It was fear. A flutter of panic. The heart - or hearts - would be racing. Fear was dangerous.

He turned his back on them both, turning to stand in front of them. He looked down as the noghri darted away, ducking and diving and looking for an opening. Here he might have towered above them, but the line had been broken. His back was turned. That instinct that had the bothan bear his teeth would be sense the change.

Jhyrack came from a planet of monsters and animals. He knew how they worked. The civilised creatures of the wider galaxy thought they were better, but they were often still creatures of instinct and impulse.

"But there is not always enough of a challenge to be found," Jhyrack added. He bared his own fangs as his lips split into a smile. His tail flicked across the floor.

"The love of the fight might be all I have," he said, looking over his broad shoulder. "But it must be a good fight. No battle, no pursuit, is worth it if there is no chance of failure."

Simple words, but when he lorded over a third of his planet he found he needed to explain to outsiders why he did not retreat to a life of leisure.

 

[Lina Ovmar]

It was a nice change to see a brute with half a brain, his response tugging a smile onto her face. Rokesh's gaze flicked between the two of them, uncertain of what game was about to unfold. Unafraid, Lina curled her fingers around the goblet of wine at her side and rose from her chair coming to stand beside him, her head not even close to reaching his broad shoulders.

"An interesting perspective, but it does not tell me what you want." she gestured to the houk who had managed to get his hand on the Noghri's head, his huge hand aiming to crush, before a flash of silver drew a roar of pain from him that made him drop the little assassin, a fresh line of blood staining the floor.

"Neither of these will be any good for a fight after this one. First though, I think we have skipped a crucial part of our negotiations."

Behind her Rokesh had already pulled out a datapad and was sending quiet instructions through a comlink anticipating her needs as behind the walls of the pit beneath them fighters were readied of varying size and skill, including the houks brother.

"What do they call you?"

Jhyrack

 

[Jhyrack]

"Hah! They?"

In the small box, even a small laugh from the minotaur was uncomfortably loud.

"I am sure I am called many things. Some have been quite creative with their insults. A good way to use your last breath, I think."

He didn't turn away from the fight, thinking that the houk was about the finish things. The slippery little noghri could strike hard and fast with precision. He really needed to get some for his own fighting pits.

Jhyrack turned slowly. His gaze slid past the nervous bothan and settled on Lina. Puteblood sith had tried to colonise his world millennia ago. Ultimately, they had failed. But they had left their culture behind and through interbreeding and training, the ways of the Force. Still, Jhyrack found outsiders hard to read.

His golden eyes remained fixed as he bowed at the waist.

"Lord Jhyrack," he offered. Perhaps it had been rude to take so long to give it away. A name was not a valuable thing. On his world everything was a battle: making war, making love, engaging in diplomacy.

"I do not challenge the house. I like this house. It reminds me of home. Which is good and bad. I am hungry for challenges from the outside galaxy. My world offers no more."

 

[Lina Ovmar]

"Lord Jhyrack..." she repeated rolling the name around her mind, trying to find connections, references, anything she could to place him. Yet he was, by his own admission, perhaps fresh into the galaxy at wide. She extended a hand, one that would be entirely dwarfed in his shpuld he take it. "You may call me Lady Djo."

One of many names.

"Are you familiar with gen'dai, Lord Jhyrack?"

Behind her Rokesh let out a low growl, earning him a glare from Lina, one that made his ears flatten, his teeth baring again in fear. Returning her gaze back to the maldrani she offered him a small smile.

"I have one in my service, paying off a debt, though albeit reluctantly. He should prove challenge enough for you. Rokesh, " she said without taking her eyes off Jhyrack, "see to his preparation personally, please."

The bothan opened his mouth, to protest , thought better of it and bowed beofre sweeping from the room to obey.

"If this challenge pleases you, then maybe we can talk about others I could offer."

Jhyrack

 

[Jhyrack]

"Are you familiar with gen'dai, Lord Jhyrack?"

"I am not," he admitted. She had piqued his interest.

Took long strides took him closer and Jhyrack slowly dropped to one knee. The minotaur paid no heed to the bothan.

"Lady Djo," he rumbled, taking her hand and bowing forwards. He placed one thumb over her slender hand before drawing back to his full height.

His lips once again parted into a smile.

"To offer me a true challenge is no easy thing. I left my world - a place in the edges of the Galaxy - because nothing brought me pleasure. My scores were settled. My domain complete."

He crossed his arms over his chest. His smile sublimated away, replaced by his golden eyes meeting his intense focus.

"Let us start with gen'dai then."

 

[Lina Ovmar]

Lina wa surprised bybthe grace of his movements as he took her hand and bowed, it brought a small smile to her face as she turned her attention tonthe fight below them. The houk was slowing, the Noghri's tactics of striking fast and escaping his powerful grip was starting to pay off.

"Gen'dai are nigh impossible to kill. They have no bones and no heart. Armour gives them the form they need to be able to blend into the galaxy. Their regeneration capabilities are incredible, but they can also be their down fall. Do enough damage to one and you will force them into a regenerative hibernation."

She tilted her head watching silently as the noghri, also noticing his opponant slowing began to take greater risks, placing to cuts instead of one before darting away, lingering too close for too long. The houk had noticed this too.

"Hubris, will always be a fighters downfall. Belief that they have the upper hand when in fact," the houk slowed further and Lina caught the glint in his eye that screamed feint, "until your opponant is down, you are always on the backfoot."

The Noghri took his chance, going for the throat when the houk reacted faster than anticipated, seizing the smaller fighter in mid air, one giant hand around his throat, the other seized an arm as wuth a wicked grin he began to pull, the Noghri's eyes popping as its scream was drowned out by the eruption of cheers in the stabds around them as the arm was ripped from its socket.

The noghri was tossed aside, his arm brandished as a trophy as the houk cheered, turning slowly to face his fans before facing the box. His free fist snapped to his chest and he bowed to Lina. She smiled down at him, placing her own hand against her heart and bowing her head in return.

"Do you have a weapon of choice, Lord Jhyrack?"

Jhyrack

 

[Jhyrack]

Jhyrack respectfully stepped aside as the exchange between the champion and Lina played out. This was her domain and despite having a playfuo and occasionally disruptive attitude, he wanted to be respectful.

The houk was not an athletic looking creature, but it was clearly a seasoned fighter. A good eye, patience and that strength made for a formidable opponent.

But that was not what he would be facing.

"Do you have a weapon of choice, Lord Jhyrack?"

"I do," he replied.

Jhyrack had an unstable lightsaber as his weapon of choice, but that was not suitable for a fight like this.

"I will fetch my hammer."

He was still learning the common basic language of the Galaxy. His home dialect was almost interchangeable with ancient sith. He still understood enough to understand Lina's warning and the threat his opponent posed.

"Heavy and dependable."

He grinned. There was a streak of ego there, but he felt a genuine flutter of excitement for the possibility of a real challenge. He had battle with his rival for years before casting him down back on Malthyl. He had felt hollow and hungry for new a dentures ever since. Ruling was such tedious business.

With a bow and a flourish, he strode away.

---

Jhyrack stood on one side of the arena. His great hammer was laying with the head down, shaft sticking upright beside him. He tightened each leather brace in turn.

Picking up the hammer, he gave one gentle swing to ensure that he was warm and ready for what was about to emerge to face him.

He turned to the box and offered a single nod.

 

[Lina Ovmar]

Lina returned Lord Jhyrack's nod with a small one of her own, her eyes shifting from him to watch the gen'dai move reluctantly through one of the many gates. Standing a little over eight feet tall, Zaghu's armour was dented in many places, bearing the scars of a dozen fights but his hateful yellow eyes did not settle on today's opponent, instead, they drifted up to meet hers.

He lifted the broadsword he wielded and pointed it to her accusingly. "One of these days, Ovmar, you will have to fight me yourself. Instead of sending pawns down." he snarled.

Lina chuckled leaning forward to rest her arms on the box's wall. "I did fight you, Zaghu. That was how you ended up in this mess in the first place. Or had you forgotten that tidbit of information?" she called back to him. His only response was a low growl as he finally turned his eyes to the one before him. "Lord Jhyrack is not a pawn. He requested a challenge, and what better fighter in the Kopatha fighting pit than yourself?"

The gen'dai rolled his shoulders as shouts began in the stands around them, bets being called. Lina straightened up, nodding to the steward across from her. He rang the bell twice to signify the start of the fight, and Zaghu launched himself forward at the maldrani with murder in his eyes.

Jhyrack

 

[Jhyrack]

"Zaghu," Jhyrack muttered under his breath as the gen'dai raised his sword.

The champion he faced did not meet his gaze. Instead he started an exchange with Lina. Jhyrack looked up to the box she watched from. It felt very different to see it from this perspective.

She had defeated this one herself. Now that was interesting. His culture was built around old sith traditions, but violence had been engrained in them for far longer. It was part of every exchange, every event and gathering.

He had come here to be challenged. His perspective had changed to be down here in the sand, in being apart from the bating crowd in the bloodied soil. Now it shifted again. He wasn't testing himself against Zaghu. He was testing himself against Lina.

Jhyrack brought his hammer up, two hands using the metal haft to block the surprisingly vicious swing of the sword. The sound rang out, a clear note that was almost immediately drowned out by the crowd.

"Hah!" Jhyrack laughed.

Zaghu did not. His gauntlet fell to the floor as they broke apart.

"Are you going to be..." Jhyrack started to say. He was interrupted by the coiled mass of tentacles erupting from the gen'dai. He barely had time to raise flame red eyebrows before he was slammed into the wall.

The structure buckled under his weight and the mass of purple tentacles. The gen'dai stepped back. The crowd fell silent; they had expected a thrilling display. Jhyrack was barely visible, motionless and embedded in the wall of the pit.

He coughed. One hand grasped twisted metal and dragged himself back out. The impact should have crushed his chest, but Jhyrack had reinforced his own body with the Force. Lina's father might have recognised it. Ashin Varanin had been known for turning her own body into a weapon.

"... I see you are."

Jhyrack no longer needed to finish the sentence. He bared his fangs, raised his hammer. And charged into the fray.

 

[Lina Ovmar]

The duel started as explosively as Lina had imagined it would, bringing a smile to her lips as she took a sip from her wine, Rokesh appearing at her elbow.

"What did it cost?" She asked, not taking her eyes off the fight below.

"Ten years off his debt." The bothan replied with a sigh. "And a night in a...questionable establishment."

Lina chuckled. "You can say brothel, Rokesh, it won't stain you." She gave a small nod, stepping back from the edge to settle back into her seat.

"You have until the end of this fight to find out everything there is to know about Lord Jhyrack. I want to know if this is a partnership worth investing in."

The bothan bowed and slipped away to reach out along the many lines of contact that drifted through the establishment. Lina settled back to enjoy the show and her wine, her mind ticking slowly over possibilities.

Jhyrack

 

[Jhyrack]

The mass of tentacles came again, but this time Jhyrack rolled his left shoulder down. He carried his momentum into the fight, swinging his hammer upwards from low and right.

The sword and Zaghu's arm together were smashed out of the way. The flat of the hammer buckled armour, lifting the monstrous creature from its feet.

Jhyrack preferred the weight and balance of the hammer over his unstable great lightsaber. Normally such a blow was rewarded with the satisfying crush of bones buckling. This was a dull thud. The gen'dai backed away and raised its sword more defensively.



Following the lines of information available would reveal a little of Malthyl. A planet beyond the edges of Sith space in the Outer Rim. Massassi sith had once colonised parts of the brutal world, using the local Maldrani ogres as a workforce and as defenders.

There was no sign of the sith themselves, but their culture had been absorbed into the native Maldrani.

Recently meetings had taken place. As far as anyone could tell their governance was based on three warlords holding power. A full war between any two factions left them open to the third and so balance was found in endless conflict.

Lord Jhyrack ruled one of those factions and yet he stood in the sand, bleeding from his head and trading blows with a gen'dai.



The slight sith who ruled these fighting pits had defeated this creature, Jhyrack reminded himself. It was formidable, but it could be defeated. She had even given him some advice.

It's sword came around and Jhyrack ducked under it. The blade hissed just above his horns, as if the air itself protested it's passing.

He swing low. His hammer would have crushed the knee of a normal creature. Instead it buckled armour plates and forced the gen'dai back but it kept its balance.

 

[Lina Ovmar]

Lina watched as Zaghu seemed to shift from uncaring brutality, to more controlled calculated moves. a smile culred her lips. It wasn't often that she presented the Gen'di with an opponant that was capable of defeating him, nine times out of ten, she had him hauled from his cel simply to put on a show, but this? This was something else. He was being used as a test and she had no care as to whether he was killed in the process.

The crowd jeered and roared, Lina broke her gaze away from the fight to scan it, noting the exchanging of bets. She made a mental note, if Jhyrack was able to defeat the Zaghu, she'd be sure to share a portion of the houses profits from his fight. Not that she believed he had any interest in such a thing. The impression she got from him was less about material gain and more about being able to enjoy the experiences life itself had to offer.


One could not deny, tht money would always help.

Rokesh returned, handing her a datapad which she scanned idly, her eyes flicking between the information he was able to glean and the fight below. It was a starting point...but it was clear their intelligence was dated. If endless conflict kept a balance, how was it a warlord was in her fighting pit? It was a pet peeve of hers, being behind the times in information. If she was not the first to know, then there was little point in knowing.

The planet in question fell well outside of the agents within Rokesh's care. She would need to reach out to the handler on Jutrand, have her dispatch agents from there. She handed the datapad back to him wordlessly and dismissed him with a wave of her hand. Was it possible, that Jhyrack had become the sole ruler? Was it also possible that he might have a hungry army of warriors like himself eager to test their blades beyond the reaches of their own homes?

 

[Jhyrack]

The pair traded blows. It wasn't a nervous test of one another. It was a violent display, each blow rippled through the crowd. Not even as its own sound, but becoming a chorus of gasps for the display of strength.

To the trained eye, Jhyrack was a surprisingly capable swordsman. The hammer was not a sith weapon, but his footwork suggested a more classical sith approach.

He landed more blows than he took, but the trading was anything but fair. The gen'dai had struck him across the arm. The blow should have severed the entire limb, but instead blood ran freely down the corded muscles of his right arm. Jhyrack was tough, but all the strikes he landed in return seemed to have done little to slow the gen'dai.

Jhyrack had faith in his own strength and stamina, but trying to outlast Zaghu seemed like a poor gamble. His hammer was the wrong weapon. Each crushing blow was absorbed by the mass of tentacles.

He carefully considered his approach as he backed away. He bared his fangs in frustration.

Jhyrack raised his hammer high and stepped forwards, but as the gen'dai closed the gap he shifted his grip on the haft of the weapon. He changed the direction of the swing and his own approach.

One step back and he twisted at the hip. The base of his hammer swung up from below. There was a loud metallic clang and a crack of something more substantive.

Zaghu's helmet rolled across the sand. He flinched and backed away.

Jhyrack laughed.

He could have pounded on the creature's limbs for hours to little effect, but the creature cared about its head. He had found the opening he needed.

The minotaur did not rush into battle. He didn't even swing for the head. Testing his theory the next exchanges proved his point. His opponent would shield his head with his own blade.

It was the turning point. It was time to roll the dice now they were more favourable.

Jhyrack came in hard, raining down blows. He wound up for one strike for the head. Zaghu brought the flat of his sword up, tentacles wrapped around it's width.

Jhyrack instead swung low. One sweep carried enough momentum to fling the gen'dai into a spin. With surprising grace, Jhyrack grabbed the sword.

The point came down as the gen'dai scrabbled away. It slid through the middle of its torso and deep into the sand. Jhyrack stood on one mass of tentacles and brought his hammer down.

He struck more sand than head. Zaghu was pinned, disoriented by the blow. Jhyrack raised his hammer and looked to the sith master of this fighting pit.

It would seem rude to kill her champion without permission.

 

[Lina Ovmar]

Lina felt the shift in the battle as Jhyrack's hammer removed Zaghu's helm, the flicker of fear that ran through the gen'dai she could almost tatse, the crowd sensed it too, baying like hunrgy hounds eager for the kill. Bright eyes watched every move, lips curing into a smile as she rose from her chair to the barrier's edge as both the Maldrani and gen'dai looked up at her for confirmation.

She met the yellow gaze of the gen'dai without a shred of pity. Zaghu had been a problem child before she'd ensnared him into a life debt, keeping him alive now was costing her nore than she was reaping from his refusal to cooperate. She looked awya from him at Jhyrack, gracing him with a smile and a small nod, the kill was his to take, he had earned it.

Besides who was she to deny the crowd what the wanted?

Jhyrack

 

[Jhyrack]

There was no glory in the act. That had already been earned. He enjoyed her brief smile, but his expression remained stoic for the final part of the show.

"J'us Kovinis qell," he muttered in the old sith language. You fought well. It didn't matter if the gen'dai heard it. His time on this world was coming to an end. Jhyrack said it anyway.

The hammer rose up. The collective intake of breath was audible.

It came down in a blur. The crack rang out. Sand was strewn in all directions. When it settled as dust his hammer was out of his hands. The head was embedded in the sand in the centre of a shallow circular basin. There were pink streaks of ichor reaching out towards the edge, like fingers trying to climb free.

Now he smiled. He roared, raised his arms and soaked up the atmosphere. At home he had his own fighting pits, but it had his heart racing to take such a risk in unfamiliar territory and come out on top. Fire coursed through them.



Jhyrack was not invincible. He sat in a room alone on a worn wooden bench.

"Fuck," he hissed. He had his shirt off, a thick bundle of white cloth pressed to the wound on his arm.

It took a toll. He drew the Force into his body, enhanced it, hardened it. Everything came with a price. His fingers now faintly trembled. He could have drawn on the Force to speed his healing, but it wasn't necessary here. The pain was his; it was earned.

When the bleeding slowed, he started to unwind the wraps from around his hands. They kept the hammer from blistering his palms. His arms and chest were a litany of scars. Layers upon layers of stories writ in flesh. The new laid upon the old. His story. One he hoped would only grow.

"You enjoyed the fight?" he called out as he heard the door open.

 

[Lina Ovmar]

Lina closed the door behind her, folding her arms as she leant back upon it and took a moment to appreciate the view. "It was certainly quite the show. I don't think the spectators will see anything else tonight that will catch their attention." Her eyes trailed the many scars that covered his body, scars that told tales of a great many battles.

"It was also very educational. It surprising what you can learn of a man in a fight, no just from watching him, but also from tugging on threads of a web weaved over a long time."

She took in a breath and pushed off the door, unclipping a pouch from her belt and dropping it on the bench besdie him, it clinked loudly with the credit chits inside. She reached for his injured arm, emerald eyes assessing the wound. "That needs stitches." she said matter-of-factly "Or a bacta patch, depending on how much of a scar you'd like."

Letting his arm go she gestured to the medkit. "May I?"

Jhyrack

 

[Jhyrack]

He offered a pained grin at her complement. Challenging the gen'dai had been more rewarding than he had expected. To be down in the sand with a baying crowd around him was a reminder of his roots. To challenge their champion had also meant testing his strength against their sith master too.

On his world, even when a treatie was being signed between two regions, the negotiators would often start in combat before they made their way to the table. Lina Ovmar was a sith of some distinction. If he could not hope to stand against the sith of the galaxy then how could they respect his own rule?

"May I?"

He gave a terse grunt and a nod.

His gaze went from the bag of chits, to the medical kit and then down to her hands on his arm. He did not judge on appearances, but she had to be a skilled warrior to have defeated her champion given how much of a disadvantage she would have been at in size.

He felt a strong desire to test her strength and see for himself.

"We had no bacta, not even kolto through trade back at home," he explained. "My world exists in its own balance. Fear is as important as battle lust. I wonder if we will lose something of ourselves when it reaches Maldrani. The stitches will do."

He settled himself, broad shoulders dropping as he relaxed before the needle came.

"It takes a keen eye to measure someone from the way they fight, but it is the best way," he agreed, "but what threads have you been tugging on?" he asked.