Turnabout

[Lilaena De'Ville]

****

After allowing the agent some time to get settled in her temporary quarters (still guarded and without access to ship's systems or holonet), Tiktik knocked on the door. A moment later she found the doorchime and pressed it, just as Nelaa Kyris opened the door.

"Ah!" Tiktik grinned. She was short and dark, with striking brown eyes that seemed nearly liquid gold when the light caught them just right. She wore the armor with the scratches on it that the agent would recognize from before, but her helmet was off. "Come. You are to be tested in Battle Circle."

She flashed a smile again, her teeth crooked enough to be noticeable as some overlapped each other in the front. "Don't worry, we will not take it easy on you, but your life is safe."

[Nelaa Kyris]

Tiktik's enthusiasm was almost overpowering as she beckoned Nelaa to follow her to the Battle Circle.

"Okay. Just give me a few minutes to change clothes."

Nelaa left the door open, figuring Tiktik would want to either come in or at least keep an eye on her. She was surprised when she heard the door shut behind her and found herself alone. She started to pull her combat suit out of her bags, but she wasn't sure what the rules would be regarding armor. After a moment's consideration she opted to just wear her exercise clothing instead: black leggings with a black tank top. She quickly pulled her hair up into a ponytail then bounced around on the balls of her feet a bit, getting her blood moving. After throwing a few punches and kicks into thin air, she composed herself and opened the door again, finding Tiktik waiting for her.

"I'm ready, lead the way."

[Lilaena De'Ville]

"Ori'jate," Tiktik said. "Very good. Follow, please."

She led the way through the passage to a bank of turbolifts that ran through the center of the ship, and the two women traveled down to the training room. It was an extensively repurposed cargo area, with a large circle outlined in bright red in the middle of it. There were training mats and racks of melee weapons to the right, as well as a weight training area to the left, but for all the people who were gathered in the space, none of them were utilizing it.

Tiktik pressed through her vod, shoving men and women out of the way. Not many were armored but some were, the rest in whatever constituted casualwear on board the ship - sleeveless tunics and pants, the occasional jumpsuit or bodyglove. Once the gathered Mando'ade realized who was coming through, they parted, allowing Tiktik and Nelaa an easy path to the circle.

Lilaena stood there in the belted shirt and leggings she'd been wearing earlier, and beside her was Hel, clad in a grey bodyglove. Neither one smiled.

"Do not let the crowd intimidate you," Lilaena said. "They are curious, and enjoy a good fight."

"And betting on a good fight," added Tiktik.

[Nelaa Kyris]

Nelaa felt a thrill of fear run down her spine. She took control of the sensation, marshaling the emotion to a part of her mind where she could recognize it for what it was and control it. If kept in check, fear was a useful ally. She smiled and dipped her head in a short nod as she stopped in front of De'Ville.


"Mand'alor."


She looked around, taking in the scene around her.


"Given the nature of my work, I don't normally get to fight in front of an audience." She brought her gaze back around to De'Ville. "It will be a welcome change of pace."


In the back of her mind, she immediately recognized her advantages and disadvantages. The people gathered around knew she was coming. Her opponent may not have known they would be testing themselves against her, but she could imagine everyone in the room was already sizing her up. Her advantage, she realized, is that only one person among them had seen her in action, and he'd only had a small sampling.


They know I'm fast, and they know I have training. Aside from that, I'm a wild card."


She smiled inwardly. There was a very real possibility that she could be well beyond her depth here, and she accepted that. On the other hand, a good performance would make serious inroads with these people. There was also one simple fact that she didn't want to dwell on in her own mind, but certainly could not deny. This would be fun.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Lilaena nodded, more interested in the outcome of the sparring match than she showed on her face. "The rules of Battle Circle are fairly simple. For an exhibition like this, a fight to first blood seems appropriate, but any Mando'ade can call out another to a fight to the death in the Circle if their honor demands it. Once you enter the Circle w ith Hel you cannot leave until the fight is over."

She paused, and added, "If you are thrown out, you must get back in, though sometimes we fight to first pushed out of the Circle." A half smile ghosted across her face. "You may choose weapons," Lilaena indicated the melee weapons racked against the bulkhead, "Or hand to hand. As the challenged it is your right."

[Nelaa Kyris]

Nelaa almost immediately chose blades, but stopped short. She was good at killing with a blade, but anything short of that would just be a liability for her.

"Hand to hand is fine with me."

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Hel nodded in reply, and stepped purposefully into the center of the circle. A murmur of anticipation ran through the assembled, and Lilaena watched impassively.

Tiktik gave Nelaa a grin and two thumbs up.

[Nelaa Kyris]

As Nelaa stepped into the ring, she shot a glance over toward De'Ville, who was watching her with a look devoid of any emotions. She wondered how De'Ville had felt in this position. She too had once been an outsider stepping into ritual combat, only with stakes much higher than those at present. For a moment, through the impassive mask that De'Ville wore, Nelaa could almost detect a look of amusement spreading across the woman's face. It only took a fraction of a moment for her to find out why.

Out of the corner of her eye, Nelaa saw a just a glimpse of movement. Without even trying to gauge the attack, she dropped to the ground, guessing correctly that the attack would go high. She landed on her back and let the momentum carry her over into a backward roll that brought her back to her feet just in time to duck the next punch that Hel threw her way. This time Nelaa was a bit more ready and was able to duck forward and roll to the other side of the circle, putting a bit of distance between the two women.

She got to her feet quickly and dropped into a ready stance, with Hel now taking a moment to measure her up instead of swarming her. Nelaa grinned.

"Okay, I'm ready."

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Hel grinned, her eyes not leaving Kyris as she raised an arm, urging the onlookers to cheer (which they did). The smaller woman was slippery, but it would only take a few landed blows in order to split her skin, or break her nose.

The two females circled each other, and then Hel darted forward again, surprisingly fast, but in exactly the same way she had before. Kyris moved to evade easily, but Hel pulled out of the feint and swept the agent's legs, sending her to the ground. Hel guessed that on the floor she could turn the other woman into ground meat, and threw herself on top of Kyris.

[Nelaa Kyris]

Before she realized what had actually happened, Kyris found herself on her back with Hel on top of her which was about as close to a nightmare scenario as she could find herself in. She brought her arms up to guard her face and twisted her upper body to the left then right, avoiding the blows that Hel was raining down on her. As soon as Hel missed with her second right hand, Kyris broke her guard and leaned up, wrapping her arms around the larger woman and pulled her down with here. Kyris locked her hands behind Hel's back and held on for dear life, using the temporary stalemate to give herself a moment to think.

She's faster than she looks and better trained than I gave her credit for. It was sobering to realize some of her advantages weren't as sharp as she'd initially thought, but she kept herself from despair. As they struggled around, Kyris picked up her right foot and hooked it over the back of Hel's left leg then broke her grip behind Hel's back. As Hel pushed up to get back into position to hit her, Kyris hooked her right arm over Hel's left shoulder then threw her hips forward and brought her left arm up. Having Hel's arm and leg hooked allowed Kyris to use them momentum to roll both of them over.

Kyris found herself on her knees between Hel's legs and for a split second saw an opportunity to hit the larger woman in the nose. Instead of taking it she pushed Hel's knee to the right and rolled in the opposite direction trying to get enough distance to get back on her feet and reset the fight.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Hel kicked out toward the agent as Kyris rolled away, but it was a glancing blow that didn’t make much of an impact. The Mandalorian rolled the opposite direction onto her knees, and stood at about the same time as Kyris.

She held her fists out in front of her in a loose guard position, and then beckoned the agent toward her with a smirk.

[Nelaa Kyris]

Kyris moved in with her hands up in a tighter guard, very aware of her opponent's longer reach. As she moved in she kept her head moving and jabbed at Hel's lead hand as she dipped in and out of Hel's striking range. This would serve to keep the larger woman from using a jab to keep Kyris at distance and only leaving the agent open to strikes off of Hel's back foot. As this dance went on, Kyris was able to slip a few punches and land one or two solid body blows and leg kicks that Hel was easily able to shake off. In a longer fight these would add up and give Kyris an advantage but in this case she only used them to keep Hel somewhat on the defensive. She knew one of them would be bleeding before any of those strikes really mattered.

Kyris moved in once more and was able to bait Hel into throw a right cross. Instead of slipping the punch and hitting the larger woman in the midsection Kyris went low, driving her shoulder into Hel's midsection while grabbing her lead leg, causing Hel to fall awkwardly backward. As she fell, Kyris held her leg and wrenched it to the side, forcing the larger woman to decide between rolling over or having her ankle broken. Hel opted for the latter. As Kyris wrenched the ankle to the side, she was shocked to hear the larger woman roar in pain as the bones in the ankle joint popped out of place. Before Kyris realized what happened, Hel brought her free leg up and drove her foot hard into Kyris' mouth. The agents grip came loose as she fell to the floor, temporarily dazed. As she rolled over she tasted blood in her mouth and clenched her jaw shut, swallowing the blood in her mouth.

The taste of her own blood set something off inside her and she turned back toward Hel with murder in her eyes. She kept her lower lip tucked in and was using her tongue and teeth to apply pressure to control the bleeding. The Mandalorian was awkwardly trying to stand without being able to put any weight on her left leg which allowed Kyris to easily close the distance and tackle her. As they landed, Kyris was able to pin one of Hel's arms under her knee, but Hel was able to land a hit to the side of her head with her free hand. The punch, though quite solid, barely seemed to phase Kyris and it allowed her grab and pin Hel's free arm, leaving the woman completely exposed.

As Kyris reared back for the coup de grâce, the two women made eye contact. There wasn't a hint of submission in Hel's eyes. Kyris twitched once but the right hand never fell. Instead she pushed herself off of Hel and backed away, spitting out a mouthful of blood as she left the fighting circle.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Shouts accompanied Agent Kyris' exit from the battle circle as barter changed hands: rations, power cells, and other items that had been bet on the combatants. The vod exchanged good-natured insults in mando'a, making way for Nelaa and Hel, who was being supported out of the Circle by Tiktik. Hel grinned and yelled back at some of the choicer comments thrown her way, punctuating her words with a gesture that suggested the others should shit in their own helmets.

Lilaena nodded to Nelaa as the other woman wiped blood from her mouth. "How soon do you want us to leave?"

[Nelaa Kyris]

"Your call, I'm ready whenever."

Kyris spoke without looking at De'Ville. She was beyond frustrated and only gave a token effort to hide it. I've been out of the field too long. Let myself go soft. She was aware of the fact that her attitude was only going to further hurt her standing with these people, but all she was really worried with in the moment was getting away from the crowd and licking her wounds in isolation. Once she was out of sight, she unceremoniously reached into her mouth and pressed against one of her back teeth and felt it move under the pressure. When she withdrew her finger she found it covered with fresh blood.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

"You fought with honor," Lilaena said quietly. "You could have hidden the blood, but you chose honesty even though it meant you lost. They respect that." She nodded toward the rest of the Mando'ade who were still in the chamber with them, paying no attention other a few curious eyes.

[Nelaa Kyris]

Kyris wiped her mouth with her top.

"Losing is losing. It didn't even occur to me that she would take such an extreme measure to best me. That kind of miscalculation could get me killed."

She chuckled quietly to herself and shot an amused glance in De'Ville's direction.

"I guess I needed the lesson."

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Lilaena regarded the agent with cool eyes, neither agreeing or disagreeing with her assessment. "Get some rest. We will leave in the morning."

She snapped her fingers and Tiktik was suddenly there, cheerily at Nelaa's side to escort her to her room, or the mess hall. Lilaena nodded to them both, turned, and walked out of the room.

---

Jeng was in the cockpit of the Ne'ta Prudii, running preflight checks, when Lilaena walked through the airlock into the YT-1760. She was dressed lightly, the armor forgone in exchange for a wrap tunic and comfortable pants, a half-face respirator mask dangling from her hand. Her hair hung loose about her face, curling slightly over her shoulders, and she walked through the ship to Jeng, resting a hand on his shoulder.

"Everything set for the trip?" she asked.

He nodded, attention captured by the console.

"Good. I will be in the back compartments with our guest." Lilaena made her way back to the passenger areas of the ship to await the agent.