Artifact Tournament 2: The Flying Fastheldian

From On the Holovid, The screen shows an image of the ICS logo as fanfare blares. A male voice, that of the commentator, speaks: "Good evening, and welcome to another installment of the Interverse Combat Series!"

Tamila makes her way into the tavern, hands tucked deep into the pockets of her labcoat. She takes a moment to look around the area, before moving to take a seat at one of the tables so she can get a clear view of the holodisplay.

From On the Holovid, Varal wears a simple black outfit: boots, fingerless leather gloves, cotton t-shirt, and BDUs in addition to a balaclava that covers his face. He jumps up and down, and from foot to foot, warming up slightly.

From On the Holovid, The image shifts to a Llivori sitting behind a desk on a broadcast studio stage platform, with an ICS logo behind him. "To refresh your memory, the first bout ended with the death of one of the competitors - an Opodian named Jakarl. As a result of his death, the victor in the fight, a Lyiri named Ika, was disqualified. A word of warning to our competitors: The ICS has determined that it will not tolerate acts of lethal violence. If you kill an opponent from now on, your life is forfeit. The family of the slain Opodian from last night's bout is offering a 50,000 Hekayti credit reward for the head of Ika. We can't officially condone this, but money *is* money, right?"

Dean is already seated at one of the spots that gives a good view, near Tamila. He seems intent on watching.

From On the Holovid, Varal looks around, his body language rather relaxed.

From On the Holovid, "And now," the commentator says, "on to new business! An outverser human named Varal Mikin! He's just arrived at the site of the second bout." The image shifts again, this time as a cambot swoops in toward Varal Mikin, who stands at the base of a spindly black rock tower above a volcano, with a blue-red nebula in the dark sky. The commentator's voice comes from the bot: "Varal Mikin, tell us about yourself and why you're here."

From On the Holovid, Varal looks towards the bot and grunts. He rolls back his shoulders and stretches out his neck. An answer does not seem forthcoming.

"Fifty kay," Tamila says to herself, as both brows raise in surprise. She withdraws her PDA and quickly jots down the notes, before looking towards in a random direction. Namely that of Dean's. She gets up, moving to join him at his table.

From On the Holovid, "Any messages for the loved ones back home on Comorro? You know, just in case?" the commentator inquires.

From On the Holovid, Varal barks a quick laugh. "No." He crosses his arms, returning his attention to the terrain.

"Tamila, good to see you again." Dean speaks as he nudges a chair out lightly for her. "Let's watch."

From On the Holovid, In a flash of blue light, a gangly Gankri materializes not far from Varal. The cambot swoops in and the inquiry is repeated. The Gankri is much more talkative: "I'm Lallagumf! I like shiny days and dancing knives and bleeding wounds best of all!" He waves merrily at Varal with long, slender fingered hands. "Oh, new friend! Hi-hi! Going to have fun! Try not to die!"

Tamila sits next to Dean, scooting a little closer towards him. Hazel eyes rest on the screen, and she nods. "Hopefully see a disembowlment," she ponders thoughtfully. "Ain't seen one of those for a while."

From On the Holovid, Varal takes a quick step towards the Gankri and drops into a sweep kick - aiming for its knee.

From On the Holovid, "Oh, ow!" the Gankri cries as Varal's leg connects with his knee. He staggers and drops to the ground, favoring the wounded leg. The cambot swings back around to focus on Varal. "Don't you want to know the parameters of the competition before you start with the beatings?"

From On the Holovid, Varal looks towards the combot. "Sure," he says simply, keeping just out of reach of the Gankri but ready to pounce.

Dean chuckles a bit at the move, leaning back and resting his arm on the back of Tamila's chair. Nonchalant, for the Phyrrian. "What's your take on all these artifacts?"

From On the Holovid, Lallagumf scowls at Varal, slowly getting back to his feet as the commentator explains: "The competitors must work their way up the Charred Tower, braving ancient and poorly maintained wooden plank steps, and eventually acquiring the Hekayti Worthing totem that is currently in the very top turret. Along the way, the competitors may find weapons or defensive gear for use in the battle. First to grab the totem wins. Understood?"

From On the Holovid, Varal's eyes narrow momentarily towards the combot, stepping towards Lala a second time. As the barest of nods affirms his understanding, he sends a snapkick towards the Gankri's pelvis.

"Too plentiful," Tamila remarks to Dean's question. "Makes me wonder what's up with that. Coulda found a nice cache of Kamir crap, or they could be back alley knock offs." She continues to regards the screen closely. "Still, don't care 'long as there's blood."

From On the Holovid, Lallagumf takes another brutal kick, this time to what would normally be the pelvic region on a human. For a Gankri, however, it's something else entirely. Varal's foot meets its mark, but that mark is a fanged maw that latches onto his boot and gives him a hard tug as Lallagumf takes a bounce backward.

From On the Holovid, Varal is able to stay upright, but his boot remains in the clutches of the alien's fangs.

MacNamara walks into the tavern from outside and walks towards the bar, pulling up a stool not far from Tamila and Dean.

Dean gives a small nod, leaning back a bit more as his eyes are on the screen.

From On the Holovid, Varal's eyes widen with surprise and there's a brief choking noise. He tests his weight on the foot-in-mouth for a brief moment before he growls softly. He pushes off with his free leg, rotating his hips around the fixed appendage. The other foot is used to kick, the blow aimed at the Gankri's head.

"Rip his fuckin' leg off!" Tamila yells at the screen. "Shatter the bone or somethin'!" A glance is directed in MacNamara's direction, but she doesn't pay too much attention.

MacNamara snorts at Tamila's exclamation. He beckons for the 'tender. "Tonic and lime," he requests.

From On the Holovid, It's an interesting move that Varal makes. If only it had worked. Instead, his spinning corkscrew move only manages to get him tangled up and the solid grip of the crotch mouth breaks his foot. Amused, Lallagumf releases the outverser's wounded feet and bounds toward the steps to begin his trek up the tower.

"Ouch," Dean notes, as if he could feel pain.

"Yeah!" Tamila calls as bone breaks. "That's the shit I'm talkin' 'bout. Give him more!" Yup, the violence is getting the TK caught up in the moment.

From On the Holovid, Varal starts after the Gankri up the steps as well, using his arms and good foot and trying to keep weight off the bad. It's slow - so he keeps his eye open for any of the aforementioned crates, but he tries to make as good of time as possible.

From On the Holovid, Making his way up and around one turn of the spiraling stairs, Lallagumf happens upon one of the glowing ICS crates first. He pops it open. From it, he pulls a pair of gripping gloves. Might be useful later - not so much at the moment. He makes a faint "teehee" sound and resumes scurrying up the steps, taking some two at a time.

From On the Holovid, Varal tries his foot with a grunt of pain, but it holds. More or less. With a little less caution than is probably prudent, he tries to make up for some lost time.

From On the Holovid, A few steps is about all Varal can manage before he loses his footing and comes down hard at an angle on the steps. Thud! One of the planks splinters and collapses under his ribs.

MacNamara sucks air in through his teeth as he watches Varal's valiant efforts fail. He nods his thanks to the bartender and cups in his cybernetic hand the non-alcoholic drink brought for him. The glass looks tiny in his huge hand.

From On the Holovid, As Varal suffers his fall, Lallagumf reaches the first covered platform on the way up the tower. He finds it empty of anything useful. The outverser, on the other hand, finds an ICS crate affixed to the tower wall through the gap where his collapse broke one of the planks. The box is within easy reach.

From On the Holovid, Varal braces himself to make sure he's safe before he reaches to open up the crate.

Dean is seated next to Tamila, the TK woman cheering on the violence while Mac chills at the bar with his drank. Dean doesn't say anything, merely watching.

From On the Holovid, Inside the crate, Varal finds a square of folded crimson cloth. The fabric glitters faintly in the light of the nebula.

Tamila slips her legs underneath her, and raises up on her knees when her view is partialy obscured. "C'mon!" she calls. "Ain't time for fashion and playin' dress ups. Maim, maim, maim!"

From On the Holovid, Varal grabs the cloth and then pulls himself up to the next step. He braces himself against the wall on his good foor - testing to make sure it's stable - before he examines the cloth more closely.

Bri bounces her way into the bar, "What's going on? What'd I miss?" she asks. This might seem to be to nobody in particular, but she does hop up on a stool next to Tam.

From On the Holovid, The cloth, when unfolded, takes the shape and texture of a bloody gossamer wing. It can be affixed along the arms and neck with nanofastenings. Then, possibly, it could be used to ride the thermals to the highest reaches of the tower without using the steps (or one's broken foot).

From On the Holovid, "The Light Protects," Varal mutters as he prepares the wing, looking for a moment with a worried expression before doing his best to gain some speed and jump.

From On the Holovid, Varal Mikin lofts away from the shattered steps, no longer burdened by the injury to his foot. The thermals from the volcano below start carrying him upward in a spiral around the tower. As he passes the first covered platform, Lallagumf shouts in anger: "No fair! No cheating! You cheat! Cheater!" He starts running up the steps, furious.

MacNamara cackles. "The human just got, uh ... well, I guess you could call it a lucky break," he explains to Bri, turning to face her and gesturing towards the screen.

"Calm, Tam," Dean says with a slight chuckle, giving a light pat on the back, before staring towards the winged-object. "Interesting."

Tamila leans up against Dean a little and she calms down. "Sorry," she replies to the man, before looking towards Bri. "Varal put his foot in the mouth of a Gankri. You missed it. It was great."

From On the Holovid, As he rounds the next turn around the tower, Lallagumf finds another ICS box. He opens it. Within, he finds a grappling hook gun, similar to the one discovered by the Opodian in the first fight. The Gankri looks up the shaft of the tower, obviously pondering using the hook to speed up his ascent. In the end, though, he decides he's far more worried about slowing down Varal. He moves up another few steps, waiting for the winged outverser to come around. He raises the hook and waits, finger on the trigger.

From On the Holovid, Varal continues to ride the thermals up, doing his best to stay steady and move as quickly as possible. As he spots the Gankri, he shouts, "Kill me and you die, too."

From On the Holovid, "No need to kill," the Gankri replies, aiming at the crimson webbing stretched between Varal's left arm and ribs. He squeezes the trigger. The hook whistles, wobbling through the air as it arcs toward the target.

From On the Holovid, It's close, but Varal manages to bank enough to dodge the incoming hook. Lallagumf growls, shaking a furred fist. "Not done yet!" On the run, he starts re-coiling the cable into the gun.

Bri ooos softly and leans up against Tam. "Good action?" she asks looking around at the others then back at the screen.

From On the Holovid, Varal growls something about farm animals and obscene sexual activities that a certain alien can do with its mouth-groin to them, but in the native language of Fastheld. He continues to use the thermals to try to get to the top of the turret as quickly as possible.

From On the Holovid, Rounding another corner, Lallagumf takes aim at the bird man of Fastheld, hoping to clip his wings.

"Only part that was interestin'," Tamila says to Bri, before she puts her arm around the shorter woman and her other part way around Dean. "Hopin' for a disembowlment, but it ain't happened." A disappointed sigh is given and she shakes her head.

From On the Holovid, This time, the grappling hook rips through the nanoflight cloth, shredding the fabric and ruining its aerodynamic qualities. As a result, Varal starts tumbling through the air toward one of the covered platforms - the last before the final climbing point. He smashes through the roof, slams against the platform, and slides toward the edge.

From On the Holovid, The advantage to hurtling to your potential doom is that its fast, the disadvantage involves that pesky doom part. The Palisadian lands hard, almost bouncing, as he slides over the rubble which just happens to arrest his speed enough that he's able to snag the edge of the platform before falling off. Most of whatever lead he might have had is spent yanking himself back onto the platform. Once he does so, he moves as quickly as he possibly can to the final stage of the competition.

Dean smirks a bit, "Hey, it's not over yet, right?"

From On the Holovid, "Not possible!" proclaims the Gankri, loping up the last steps toward the platform. He jumps, springing with his big floppy feet, and then clings to the side of the turret. He starts hustling his way toward an open window that glows with a faint amber light.

Bri snickers softly and curls up closer to Tam, "Wanna drink?" she asks looking at both her and Dean.

From On the Holovid, Varal doesn't have any other option than to start climbing, and try to climb faster - minus one foot and with no awesome sticky-gloves.

Tamila looks up towards Dean when he speaks, shaking her head. "It's more interestin' when there's actual blood and guts involved," and then towards Bri when the question's presented. "One of those death whistles should be good."

Amanda enters the tavern and looks for an empty seat, eyes drifting towards the viewer

From On the Holovid, With the help of his gripping gloves, Lallagumf makes it to his window first. He pulls himself up, slides through the gap, and then drops about ten feet to the floor of the main chamber of the tower turret. Varal gets to his window next. Through it, he can see what the Gankri sees: A black stone dais in the middle of the chamber with a Hekayti Worthing totem on it, illuminated by a glowing light from above.

From On the Holovid, Prudence has never won Varal a battle before, but it might have kept him from being horribly injured. That being said, he's old enough to be set in his ways. He, instead of trying to jump down, goes for a sort of leap tackle against the Gankri.

From On the Holovid, As he takes a step toward the platform, Lallagumf looks absolutely blissful at the prospect of winning this fight in the tournament. He doesn't even notice the shadow of the leaping outverser as Varal Mikin pounces. Down they both go in a tangle of arms and legs - some of them painfully broken already. "No! NOT FAIR! CHEAT! CHEAT! CHEATER!" The Gankri flails about, trying to get free.

From On the Holovid, Varal tries to sneak in a sucker punch at the Gankri equivalent of a temple before attempting to extricate himself and hurl towards the artifact.

Bri stands up on her seat, uncurling herself from Tam, "Go! Go!" she shouts as Varal pounces, "Get the bastard!"

From On the Holovid, The punch to the head does what it's supposed to: It knocks the shouting Gankri right on out. Varal has an unobstructed path to the waiting Hekayti Worthing totem.

Tamila also rises to her feet. "Maim!" she calls out, getting caught up in the violence again. "Finish him off!" Sure, there mightn't be any killing allowed, but it doesn't stop her from urging it.

From On the Holovid, Varal spits on the ground next to the Gankri. If looks could kill... Nevertheless, victory is literally in reach and he hobbles over to take the totem.

From On the Holovid, And then Varal vanishes in a puff of blue light. The ICS logo flashes across the screen and the image of the commentator returns: "Tonight's victor: Varal Mikin, an outverser from Comorro Station, doing his part to balance the scales against Zar Hideg Fekretu's allies, it would seem. Thanks to all our loyal viewers for watching. Stay tuned for the next exciting installment as the tournament continues!"