[M] Retribution IV: Rebirth

[Trixie]

Able Company had been in the field for three straight years. They were one of the few Special Forces conditioned units in the 15th Infantry Division of Naga Sadow’s Sith Empire. The High Court had delegated that a super weapon be built on Thule. Able Company had been chosen to spearhead the planet wide siege. Beatrix Zulenka had received a promotion to Sergeant First Class for their last combat operation on Belsavis. The dissidents had been quelled, rounded up, and executed. Due to a tactical error by Charlie Company, Able Company had lost a couple of its members in the assault on the final bunker, but it paled in comparison to what had happened to Bravo Company. There were maybe a handful of Bravo left after they had been left exposed on the line and ripped apart by turbolaser fire. Sergeant Rackham had been detained by Able out of sheer anger at the officer for his lousy call. They had nearly lost Trixie as she moved to save Staff Sergeant Henderson and whom else she could of Bravo. Imperial High Command wanted Henderson to train an entirely new Bravo Company, but Beatrix wouldn’t have it. She pleaded the case to Colonel Felix Astrada, her estranged lover. Able Company was already welcoming of Henderson and the few remaining soldiers of Bravo Company and invited them to join their ranks; creating a drunken ceremony for them to join the elite members of Able. Beatrix argued that giving Bravo’s fresh recruits a commander who had trained with them would be better for morale and unit fluidity than if Henderson had stayed on. High Command accepted her judgement, she was the leader of Able Company after all, and granted her Henderson and his men. As part of his deal he was demoted to Sergeant under the newly promoted Staff Sergeant Masters, Beatrix’s second in command. There was no bad blood about it; Henderson was grateful to be among his new brothers and sisters in arms. It wasn’t in vain either, because Able Company single handedly took the capital of Thule from its natives and held the city as the primary invasion fleet positioned itself and dropped out of orbit.

* * *

Sheathing a blade off the display rack into her belt using her newly reformed right arm, Trixie’s eyes perused the various other weapons in the slave armory. Her first major bout was minutes away and she had been given time to arm herself for whatever she was to face in the arena. Under Belial’s orders Jorgan had quite literally beaten her into submission. He would break a bone on her person and then immediately restore it and break a different one. It had been the worst few hours she had ever experienced. Finally, she agreed, albeit reluctantly, to don her slave collar again and participate in Tyrant Lord Belial’s arena. Her primary directive was to make the demon money through gambling winnings. Picking up a stiletto knife sheathed in an intricately carved bone scabbard she tied it around her waist and situated it on the other side of gladius. Picking up a worn canvas pouch she unfolded the straps and exposed the rust covered throwing knives that were carefully sheathed in their holders.

Wrapping the canvas pouch around her torso she tightened the straps and positioned the fanned array of blades along her right shoulder. Taking a small dagger from the table, she slipped it in between her ankle and the tightly strung boot of her left foot. Choosing her last piece of weaponry off the rack Trixie twirled the spear around her as she walked towards the arena entrance. The Sith Warrior could hear the thousands of arena patrons shouting and cheering in anticipation for the match to start. Taking a round bronze phalanx shield off the wall to her left she jogged through the bright archway and into the roaring fighting pit.

Well this isn’t exactly a shocker.

Five combatants of various species stood before her. They had been taunting the crowd with their weapons in a brutish display of power. Almost immediately Trixie circled left and began analyzing the warriors in front of her. They all had different types of weapons and varying levels of armor on. There was even a naked human wielding a wicked looking zweihander. Without even thinking Beatrix lifted the spear up over her head. Tossing it up she adjusted her grip, caught it, and wailed it at the naked combatant. It pierced his chest and threw him onto his back, impaling him to the ground. The crowd roared in excitement, screaming for more blood. Almost immediately she was charged by two green looking demons with scales and matching tails. They both wore cured hide armor and wielded dual short swords. The left one came into reach first; ducking under a wide horizontal slash Trixie smashed her shield upwards into its exposed arms knocking it off balance. With her open hand she stopped a double slash from its partner with a close quarters shield. Pushing the attacking demon back with force she drew her gladius and rolled underneath another slash. With fluid movement she stuck her blade through the gut of the lizard like demon on her right.

Two

Bringing her full strength to bear to knocked the second green scaled demon onto it’s back with a powerful shield bash and drove the edge of the bronze defensive circle through its neck severing its head.

Three

A harsh thud smashed into her shield; it was an arrow from another combatant who was behind a hulk looking demon who resembled Quartermaster Jorgan. Exerting her powerful leg muscles the red-headed mistress jumped into the air and loosed her shield like a Frisbee at the hulk looking warrior. He barely had time step aside as it bounced off the dirt floor of the arena and landed up in the stands. Tossing her gladius skillfully to her left hand, Trixie took hold of three knives between her fingers from the pouch on her shoulder and whipped them at the archer. They landed true, square in the middle of the warriors’ chest, but not before the red skinned demon had loosed another arrow that planted itself into Trixie’s left shoulder. Beatrix landed on the arena floor and stumbled forward, the pain of her injury screwing with her balance.

Four

Before she had any time to react the hulk had swung its mace at her. Throwing up both her hands she projected two shields to stop the blow, but there was too much force. The red-head was flung into the adjacent wall where her body met stone with a sickening crunch. Blood stained her vision as the yellow skinned demon hulk lumbered over to her to finish the job. Coughing blood onto her clothing, it spilled down her mouth as she pushed herself to her feet, sliding up the wall. Her gladius had been knocked from her possession leaving only her stiletto and boot knife. However, when she tried to move to arm herself she found that her left shoulder had been shattered leaving her left arm useless. The yellowish hulk stood before her now. Grabbing the slave warrior by the loose chainmail over her leather tunic it lifted her to its face and smiled a toothy grin before grabbing a knife from its belt. Licking the blade with its long tongue it laughed, preparing to plunge the blade into her chest to finish the job.

Five

Something snapped and Trixie’s eyes began to glow red, a dark energy pouring from her body. Using her right arm, she gripped the neck of the hulk who, at first, thought nothing of it until the flesh around his throat began to sizzle and decay. Black lightning flowed through Beatrix’s arm and into the body of the yellowed hulk that was grasping her. The hulk fell backward onto it’s back, Trixie instinctively placing her boots on its chest to kneel over it. Her mouth opened wide as a swirling black vortex of red and black energy swirled from the body of the hulk and was absorbed into the red-eyed gaping maw of Trixe Zulenka. Once she had finished consuming its essence nothing was left but a shriveled black mummy of a corpse.

The arena patrons erupted into applause. The captive Sith had won her first official bout for Belial.