Vahl woke up earlier than usual and made his way to the arena in time to meet Umana and ask to fight alongside her again. Korva watched the two from the bar and smiled, happy that she was able to get them to become closer together overnight. The bar had been packed that night, and a large amount of people had signed up to join the pit and fight in it, so she had lots of fights for them to take part in.

The duo fought multiple times against the large number of new fighters that signed up that same day, practicing their ability to work as a team and put on a good show for the crowd. The two made some mistakes in some fights, but they both had the enthusiasm to learn and correct their mistakes. It would only take a short amount of time until they are prepared to have Korva challenge and make bets against other arenas around the city. Fortunately, during the day the same feathered hat wearing pirate did not show up, Vahl figured that he was intimidated from last time but Umana thought otherwise and thought it was odd.

Korva approached the duo who were drinking together at the bar, resting from their last fight, which went a lot better than the first one.

She seemed excited from all the money she was making from all the pit fights that were going on, “Hey, you two, there is one last group of people you can fight against today.”

Vahl and Umana walked straight to the door, not even asking about the opponents. Korva chuckles to herself, proud that she managed to help them become close to each other already, feeling like she was their mother who just connected two of her children that never got along.

Vahl and Umana exit out of the equipment room in the same gear, the metal bracers and two lower power modified laser pistols. They usually fought against a larger group of humans and this time was no different, five humans stood in front of them and in clothing that was probably something brought with them as they didn’t seem native to the planet or on it for very long. Korva announced the beginning of the fight and Vahl charged forward, raising his right arm at a ninety-degree angle as two laser bolts pass under, hitting two different humans, knocking them to the ground in electric shock. Another two humans are charged into by Vahl. Vahl picked them up into a hold as he charges them against the wall, shaking the entire building and dropping to the ground, as they vomit out their lunch.

In the split second that the fight has lasted four of the five were knocked out, clearly the two were no longer able to get a good challenge out of the level of fighters they are used to fighting against and would have to wait until they fight against the best of the other arenas to get a challenge. Behind him Vahl heard the blast of a laser pistol, but it sounded louder and more powerful than the lower power modified ones that are to be used in the pit. Vahl turned his head around fast enough to see the red bolt nearly strike Umana. Vahl dashed towards the human who took the shot, lifting him off his feet and smashing him into the sand covered floor. Umana trained the pistols she carried on the man. Korva was surprised, but mostly worried about the reaction of the crowd, which didn’t seem to notice the problem at all.

Vahl held the man under his grasp against the warm sand of the pit, kicking the laser pistol away, the man looked into his reptilian eyes and laughed. Vahl lifted him a few feet into the air and smashed him back down, throwing him against the wall beside them which wiped he smirk off the mans face and forced him to lose consciousness. Vahl walked towards the man and placed his foot on his ribcage, pushing down and waking the man up, who quickly ran out of breath and started to suffocate.

Umana rushed up to Vahl and grabbed his arm, “Stop it Vahl, you don’t need to kill him!”

Vahl elevated his foot off the man, keeping his eyes trained on him, “He tried to kill you!”

Umana, stared at him in thought, “Just throw him outside and take the pistol away, maybe he didn’t know unmodified pistols weren’t allowed.”

Vahl picked him up and threw him over his shoulder, to which the man didn’t resist as he gasped for breath. Umana picked up the pistol and took it with her, following Vahl. Vahl brought the man to the door of the building and threw him outside into a puddle of collected tar, ruining his good clothes and hair. Vahl closed the door and went to the bar with Umana, who tried to calm him down.

Korva dealt with the other fighters, who seemed to have been colluding with the man and brought Vahl and Umana into the side room to talk.

Korva shared her thoughts, aggravation was clear in her tone of voice, “My bet is that they were sent by that pirate man to try and kill you two or get information about you.”

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Vahl scoffed,

“They failed then, if that’s what their gang is like it won’t be much issue.”

Korva disagreed, “They almost shot Umana dead, and if they had their regular weapons and armor, they might have succeeded.”

Umana shared her thoughts,

“Maybe we should get our own armor and get a bigger weapon for Vahl to use, other than his fists.”

Korva agreed with her, but motioned towards a cabinet, “I already thought of that even before the pirates started harassing us, we have a tactical doshko in the storage for Vahl to use in emergencies.”

Umana never heard of such a weapon, which was odd as it was quite common for soldiers to use, “Doshko?”

Vahl got up and reached above a large cabinet located at the side of the room, grabbing a large metal object and bringing it down. The large metal object was around six feet long and the haft of it was a pitch-black metal that looked as heavy as it was thick, it didn’t look made for holding in one hand but Vahl carried it like it was a toothpick. At the end of the metal haft was three large metal spikes which made the weapon look like a two-handed axe in shape, just with three bladed spikes instead of the usual rounded blade.

The weapon looked largely out of place so Korva elaborated on its origin, “We bought it a long time ago from a merchant at the space port, it was a little expensive for our budget but worth it. You should have seen the look and the merchant and his guards face when Vahl picked it up and swung it around with one hand.”

Vahl laughed in remembrance of the event, even one of the guards was a vesk and he was also surprised. Vahl didn’t bother putting it back on the top of the cabinet and kept it held in his large hand.

“Let’s take the rest of the day off, even I have fought enough for today.”

Umana nodded her head, raising herself from her seat before a large credit stick in shoved in her direction by Korva. Korva hands an equally big one to Vahl.

“You guys made me a hell of a lot of money today, so you guys get a big bonus today. And Vahl, put that Doshko under the bar counter, somewhere you can reach easy.”

Vahl approved and did exactly that, putting it next to the spot he usually stands at when at the bar counter. Umana put the unmodified laser pistol that she took from the pirate that tried to shoot her with it and put it next to the doshko.

Vahl and Umana separate for the day and head home to rest, keeping their eye out for any pirates that had the same face paint that the feathered hat man had on his own face.

The next morning Vahl woke up to the sound of fighting outside his house. When he inspected the noise, it seemed that the pirates fought again, this time he paid attention to the face paint of them. One of the groups that seemed to be winning the firefight had the same red skull face painted on their head, this group only had it on their cheek instead of above the eye. The pirates ambushed the smaller group of pirates, who were pushed back at an alarming rate and would likely be killed very soon.

Vahl turned around and headed towards the bar, hoping there wasn’t another fight going on near there. Luckily the streets seemed pretty empty that day and no pirates were in sight, so he entered the building and stood at the bar, near his hidden doshko. Umana joined him for a drink and the two joined quick fights to pass the time and warm their bodies up.

While Korva cleaned a glass at the counter, a familiar man entered the building wearing his feathered hat and clothes that seemed even more expensive than the last ones he wore. Before Vahl approached to tell him to leave he held his hands up and flashed a smile toward Vahl, showing that he meant no harm. The man seemed like he was in a good mood and didn’t want anything to ruin it. Korva seemed interested in what he had to say, now that the people he probably sent to test or kill the two had their asses kicked.

“What are you here for now? Same as last time?”

The man opened his mouth for the first time in front of Umana and Vahl. He had a clear and charismatic voice, “Yes, I must admit that I am indeed here to try and convince you to sell us the building, including the fighters you have contracted to the arena.” Taking a moment to pause and think about his words, “However, I must admit I am scared to use any physical force in front of these two so I will not. However, I must also warn that this is the last time we will be asking.”

Korva tightened her hand around the glass in her hand, seriously contemplating the idea of it, but not for long until she shook her head. The pirate looked at her with a disappointed gaze, but the smile quickly appeared back on his face.

The man talked in the same calm and steady voice, “Well, in that case I have no choice but to leave, I wish you three the best of luck.”

He did a small bow and headed straight towards the door, walking calmly towards it while taking out a holopad from his pocket and striking three dashes across the screen. Korva reached down and brought out the laser pistol Umana placed and put it on the counter. Vahl reached down and held the doshko in his left hand, watching as the man walked out the door closing it behind him. The three breathed a sigh of relief and Vahl turned back to Korva, who kept the laser pistol out but went back to cleaning the glasses and pouring drinks for her customers that have been having a hard day.

“What do you think will happen now? I doubt its really the end of seeing him.”

Korva agreed, “You are probably right Vahl, but god I just wish they would leave my customers in peace and let them enjoy themselves.”

The door to the building opened, one woman walked in and blended in with the crowd. Half a minute behind the woman two more men walk in, they wore a red skull painted on their left cheek and were outfitted in the usual shoddy grade golemforged plating Mk.1 armor, their weapon is just as shoddy and poor quality but still deadly to those not wearing anything but a few layers of clothes. Korva noticed these pirates from the corner of her eye, she turns to Vahl and ducks under the counter.

“Behind you!”