Crystal woke up the next day rested, the dancer still laying besides her. She had no dreams this night... and the collar around her neck was reminder of her predicament.
Crystal yawned and stretched, then got out of the bed and quickly put on the skimpy outfit she had been given yesterday. Let's see... I should wash up first, then go see the overseer. After... well, I need to figure out just how powerful and resourceful this Hutt is, to determine if he can be of use to me. If he is not worth my time, then I should look for a way to get the collar off and escape; if he can be useful I should try to make a deal with him... that's about it, I think... Having made a simple plan the Sith lady got to executing it...
As she arrived at the arena Crystal was greeted by a sight of slaves fighting on the arena. "Ah, isn't it our newest star~" Crystal turned to see at the woman who adressed her. "I am overseer Taan. It's my job to make sure your fights and deaths will be entertaining to the masters..."
“A pleasure.” Crystal offered a polite bow to the woman. “What is required of me, exactly?” She decided to take things slowly and find out more about this overseer before deciding on a course of action.
The woman smiled. "You will be required to practice while here... and when the time comes, you will fight on the arena against other gladiators. Might even die~ Very few fighters regain their freedom." She chuckled. "For now, I think a practice match would be in place... how about a fight with one of other gladiators~" She looked around and pointed at a fit young man. "This one -Oris."
Practicing my combat skills a bit won't hurt... It will give me something to do while looking for a way out of here. Crystal decided. Regaining her freedom by fighting and winning at the arena was too slow, not to mention dangerous. “Very well. What will be the rules of this practice match?” She asked Taan while examining her soon-to-be sparring partner.
"No terminations or permanent damage." Taan said she turned to the man. "Cri! Come here!" The man turned and walked up to the pair. "You will have a match with the new meat here." Taan waved at Crystal. The man - Cri - looked her over and nodded. "What weapons?" He asked as he looked at Crystal.
“No weapons, just our hands and feet.” Crystal replied. On one hand it was an unarmed attack that had gotten her in this mess, and on the other she had been practically unarmed when fighting the beast. Thus improving her unarmed capabilities seemed like a good idea. Considering the rules of the sparring match she also would not use the force against her opponent.
The man nodded and took a stance. Just one look was enough to tell Crystal that Cri was more proficient in unarmed combat then she... Not by much, but still, enough. "To victors go the spoils~" Taan added with a smirk. "This battle will decide your position in the slave hierarchy~"
“Oh, joy.” Was Crystal's flat response as she too took a stance. She decided to not use the force for now and fight fair (for a given definition of the word). Without saying anything more she rushed her opponent and tried punching his face... before revealing the attack to be a faint as she tried to sweep his feet from under him and make him fall down on his back instead.
Spoiler: combat draw As Crystal fainted her punch, she realised that instead of blocking, Cri decided to dodge - as she kicked her leg in a swipe, the man moved beside her his own kick swiping where her leg used to be. The two moved in parallel as if mirroring each other. Before stopping, standing a few meters of each other. Spoiler: combat lose Cri looked at her with new eyes, this time taking some interest. He cracked his shoulders, then suddenly he was upon her. His fist struck at her face so fast that Crystal could barely block it - how easier would it be with force! She grunted as she felt his shin crushing against her side - the attack with his hands was a faint! She stumbled back, hand on her side as she felt the pain of the kick... Cri allowed her a moment...
Crystal grimaced from the pain, but did not let it distract her. Instead she rushed at her opponent, trying to catch him by surprise. There were no faints this time, just a series of punches and kicks aimed at his head. Regardless of the result she would pull back and prepare to dodge or block any attacks that might come her way.
Spoiler: fight fail As she engaged the man she quickly realised how inferior were her hand to hand skill in comparison to her opponent. Each exchange, no matter how good from her, he did even better. The hits landed on her stomach, chest, face. She backed off, breathing heavily. She was on a verge of collapsing, while her opponent seemed to be mostly okay - she did land a few blows... but it was barely anything.
This is not working... which is what I expected. Crystal sighed mentally as she took a few deep breaths, trying to recover as much as she could before her next attack. Well, if I am going to lose I might as well make the most of this little sparring match... Time for a change of tactics. She decided to focus on attacking one of the guy's knees, over and over. If she could land a few good hits she could do enough damage to limit his movement and make the fight a bit more even. If not... well, losing her first sparring match was hardly the worst thing in the world... probably.
Spoiler: combat fail The change of strategy was something that surprised Cri, as a couple of Crystal's strikes landed on his knees. Yet he quickly adapted and started countering. He pushed Crytal back, then with a swell faint, he was behind her, his arms locking around her throat in choke hold. "And a match goes for Cri~" Taan chuckled as she walked up to the pair. she grabbed Crystal's top and ripped it off. She then started fondling her breasts. "well, you lasted longer then I thought~" Crystal could not answer as Cri continued choking her.
Kregan roll his eyes. "They would be fools if they would't demand getting paid. I'm sure I will be able to convice them to give to me honest discount." He said as his ship fly in the direction of the smuglers base. Kregan look around the station, which look to him like shithole, with trashmobs and others disgusting creatures. "Let's go Qira, to look for some repair shop. Also, rest of the crew must egzaminete ship for all damage." In rest of the crew, Kregan mean lady Amajul.
Crystal ignored what Taan was doing and instead focused on gathering what little strength she had left. Then she reached for his eyes with both hands, trying to poke them with her fingers and force him to let her go, unless he wanted her to damage his eyes. With him right behind her accuracy was not much of a challenge as she had a pretty good idea where his face was.
At the order, Amajul grumbled a little, but then smirked. "Sure thing boss~" She said satisfied. "At least I will avoid interacting with idiotic part of population." As the two turned to leave, they were meet by the local, accompanied by two droids. "The port fee is 100 credits." He said as he approached them.
Spoiler: attack success Suprisinigly, her fingers easily found the target... and sunk in. Cri screamed as he let her go, allowing Crystal to fall to the ground. Taan cursed. "I said no permanent damage!" Crystal fell on the ground as she felt collar shocking her quite nastily. When it finally stopped she noticed Taan holding her by hair. "Take the bitch to the stalls. Maybe ten days being used by Gamoran guards as cum bucket will teach her to obey commands." Two guard started dragging her out of the arena.
Kregan judge local, let' say custom official, and pull out 120 credits. "For port fee and for advice for some local mechanics, who will repair my ship without stealing from me." He said, adding in the Force, to advise best possible exspert.