Battle Royale Round One - Mictian Vorenus

Prologue: Republic Command Headquarters dispatched their commando unit to infiltrate and destroy a smuggling base, fronting as a legal buisness venture, right under the republic's nose in coruscant. Intelligence suggested that it was controlled by an arms dealer in cahoots with the sith, funding the bandits and guerilla forces that ambush republic ships. Due to a lack of evidence linking the syndicate and the sith, the regular military couldn't be called in. The jedi had their hands tied, so it was up to the commandos of the republic.

Setting: Modern building in the less popular district of coruscant, 2am.

We were to breach the compound from underneath. Just me and three others. The plan was simple; get in, blow up the four central pillars, and the building comes down. As soon as we were in, we seperated, each assigned their own pillar. Stealth was our forte, yet there was an unusual feeling of being watched as I moved. I knew I had been found out, but I couldn't tell by whom and when they would strike. I just hoped they thought i was alone.

After successfully executing another smuggling run, I headed for my temporary lodging in this unknown building, contemplating on the weird feeling I was getting. It could be that I never know who I'm smuggling for, or what the cargo is, but the pay's good. Which was why I started to head to the underground cargo area after the sensors on my ship detected an unknown disturbance. It was either a battle droid, or a jedi, neither of which are welcome here. Besides, I wanted to test my personalied trap system.

The ship I just passed could detect my thin energy field. I knew this. I hoped that all the smugglers would come running. Then I could easily slip by. I stayed hidden, a replica energy field set up in the middle. A shot was fired. They knew I was here. I threw a distraction grenade, but it exploded. The place was riddled with mines, how could I not have known. The lights were still off, my pillar just across the cargo area. Up in the railings. A figure. Dressed like a smuggler, hat and all. I took aim.

A decoy... I should've known, it's definitely not a droid. Time to activate the mines, droids would avoid them easily, but not living beings. Just as I thought, a mine exploded, I guess that's the end of that, pity I couldn't have fun. Hold on a minute, a hologram of mine got shot, sounds like my foe isn't as dumb as I thought. Judging from the shot trajectory, I pinpointed his location, hiding behind a ship. Time to turn on the motion detecting lasers, did he really think he could outsmart me in my own territory? Could it be a rival gang? Jedis don't use blasters... I'll find out after he's dead.

I didn't have time for this. Luckily, the lights were still off. Time to move. Maneuvering from ship to ship. Avoiding the mines. Several red lights started to appear. They were on the walls and on the floor. I stopped moving. I threw an EMP grenade at a light. It got shot. I went into sniping mode. The lights disappeared one by one. A movement in the shadows. I had to hurry. The last laser was destroyed. A presence in my rear. I jumped to my left. Bullets of energy riddled the space where my body should've been. More shots were fired. He couldn't see in the dark.

Like a serpent hunting his prey, I moved in the blind spots, tracking his location as he shot my lasers down. If my traps wouldn't kill him, I would. In this game of wit, he was failing in comparison, whoever he was. I found his location, and I fired 6 shots, and another 2 just to make sure. I turned on the lights using a remote, but he was nowhere to be found. I panicked, not because he wasn't there, but because the floor of the cargo room was littered with explosives. When did he- too late. I saw his reflection, he was right behind me, was that a soldier? No time- I turned and fired.

He turned. I grabbed his arm and pointed it away. He kicked me away and drew his sword. I was awed. He matched me in every step. Every swing he took left no opening. I kept dodging and he kept advancing. Everything was going according to plan. I backed into a pillar. Just then. My chance. He took a step too far. I went in. I locked his arm and broke it. I took him down with a sweep. The vibroblade in my knuckle plate extended.

A dance of death, each step possibly our last. Avoiding the explosives on the ground while maintaining my composure. Just as we hit a pillar, I missed a step, and he came in for the kill. He broke my arm, I was about to die. As he swept me, I extended the hidden blade under the sole of my feet, and kicked him in his left thigh. Neither of us uttered a sound throughout the encounter. He fell back, and I took the chance to draw another one of my pistols. As I was about to fire, his right foot made contact with my left arm, kicking the pistol out of my hand. I had nothing left, then, he got up and ran. Something felt strange. All the charges started to blink.

He just wouldn't die. My thigh was injured. I took the moment of disorientation to plant the final charge right at the pillar. It was the objective. He fell into my trap and played along beautifully. Despite the pain, I ran as fast as I could. He wouldn't follow. He couldn't follow. Those weren't just mines. They're motion sensitive. All part of the plan. I followed the prepared escape route. In seconds, I found the rest of my team, transport and all.

"Sorry guys, I ran into some trouble."

"It's alright, you got your pillar covered and primed?"

"Yea, of course. On my count."

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1

Epilogue: Investigation into the destruction of a building in coruscant never began. The owner of the building knew that his operations would be found out if the authorities searched the rubble. It didn't matter, several weeks later, he was found dead. There were no survivors from the building collapse. So the report says. Mictian always wondered why the smuggler never called for backup, or alerted the entire building. Pride is truly the sin that destroys men.