“What the hell do you mean we’ll be performing a moral boosting mission?” Rogueboy demanded from Havock as she finished reading the flimsiplast out loud.

“Well it says here will be participating in the annual army versus navy athletics competition.” Havock stated.

“Funny, I’ve been here four damned years and never once have I heard about this competition.” Rogueboy angrily shouted.

“Just another way to earn some funding I think.” Havock said as she reread the flimsi.

“What do you mean?” RB asked.

“Well, think about it; you have a sports competition going on, you make money selling tickets, concessions, hell who knows there might be RB doll if you play your cards right.” Havock said jokingly.

“All this talk has my head hurting.” Rogueboy said as he massaged his right temple. “You coming tonight?” He inquired.

“Of course I am.” Havock said with a grin.

Since Starfruit had rejoined the squad, RB and Havvy planned a little welcome back party for her. Rogueboy had invited the squad so that any unfamiliar faces could be introduced; when you have to trust someone with your life it would be rather embarrassing to not remember their name or what they look like.

“So what exactly are the events that we will be participating in?” Rogueboy questioned.

“Says here there is going to be; cycling, dodgeball, footrace, gladiator, hunting, javelin toss, unarmed combat, shooting, tug of war, and volleyball.”  Havock informed him.

Rogueboy’s ears visibly perked at the mention of gladiator. “What type of gladiator?”

Disgusted that Rogueboy would even be interested in participating in this charade; Havock hurled the flimsiplast pamphlet at him.

“Easy there sweetheart.” Rogueboy joked as he attempted to diffuse Havock’s mild outburst.

“I’m not your sweetheart.” Havock said defiantly.

“Sure you’re not...yet.” He said with a wink.

“You disgust me.” Havock said as she tried to hide her grin.

“Hmm...essentially armed melee combat  until either opponent yields or is rendered incapacitated.” Rogueboy read aloud. “Sign me up for that one.”

Havock shrugged her shoulders without making any commitments.

“Want to go for supper before we go to the bar?” Rogueboy asked.

“RB are you asking me on a date.” Havock suggested.

“Well if it’s a date my appetite is the third wheel.” To prove his point his stomach decided to growl at that moment.

Havock laughed. “Alright, any place in mind?”

“I know this place that makes the best blue cheese pizza on Tadath, bit of a hole in the wall joint but it’s cheap and good.” Rogueboy said excitedly.

“Count me in.” Havock said.

Dinner was a simple affair and the duo had spent most of it making each other laugh. Rogueboy was glad to see that Havock’s old spirit was coming back, perhaps it was the fact that Starfruit was returning to the squad. Regardless of the reasons RB was just happy to see his squad leader smiling again.

Havock and Rogueboy each paid half for the meal and headed towards the bar, where the squad was meeting up for drinks. Once they reached the Emperor’s Bladder they quickly realized that they were the first ones there. Grabbing one of the longer tables near the back the duo sat down and each ordered a drink from the serving droid. “Been a long time since I’ve been to a bar.” Rogueboy commented.

“Liar, you were here last week.” Havock accused.

“Perhaps, but I was only here for an hour.” He confessed.

“That’s because you got into a fight and needed stitches.” Havock added.

“Well I didn’t know the other guy had a knife, was only a scratch, and it wasn’t my idea to get the stitches.” Rogueboy defended. “Also he had to go to the hospital.”

“For alcohol poisoning.” Havock pointed out.

“Well that was one of his symptoms, he was also missing a piece of his ear.”

“So what I learned is that; you fight people who are at a disadvantage and that you fight like a girl.” Havock teased with a grin.

“Well at least I don’t drink like one.” Rogueboy accused as he pointed to Havock’s fruity drink.

“You should try it.” She said as she took a deep sip.

It was at that moment that Rogueboy, who was seated, facing the front door as was his habit, noticed that Starfruit had walked in. Raising his arm, RB waved it until he got her attention and she started heading towards his direction, looking over he noticed that Havock visibly shivered. Pulling the server droid over Rogueboy ordered six mixed shots, no sooner did he finish ordering it than Grahim entered and he was forced to change it to eight.

As soon as Grahim sat down the shots were laid out in front of them. “Here’s to Jaenna returning home.” Havock announced as all four of them downed the first shot.

The mix was something that Rogueboy was used to a slight burning sting of the heavy alcohol mixed in with the taste of chocolate liquor. Normally RB only shot the hard stuff but he knew that quite a few members of the squad were not drinkers up to his calibre.

“C’mon Havvy, break the news to them.” Rogueboy interrupted Havock’s conversation with Starfruit.

Havock sighed. “Way to kill the mood Rogueboy.”

“Most girls say that I know how to set the mood.” He boasted with a wink.

Going back to the subject at hand Havock was just about to explain their mission to Grahim and Jae when Aeos, Brightstar, and someone who Rogueboy never met; walked in.

“Does anyone know if Karash is coming?” Asked RB as he took his next shot and slammed it down on the table so that Aeos would look over at the sound.

“Hey guys, this is Flame.” Aeos said as way of introduction. “New recruit.” She added.

Rogueboy visibly winced at the name. “I promise to with hold all homosexual puns.” He muttered under his breath so that only Havock can hear him.

Putting on a professional tone of voice, Rogueboy stood up to introduce himself. “Welcome to Raiders, Flame. I’m your assistant squad leader; you may call me Rogueboy, RB, Asshole, and anything else you can creatively come up with that describes me.”

The introductions were made all around and once it became clear that Karash was a no show, Havock passed around the pamphlet that stated the events and rules.

Cycling;
This is a single event and will be a thirty-five kilometre race, going through strenuous mountain paths. There will be no contact between the two cyclists, any contact will result in a forfeit.

Dodgeball;
There will be six men to each team, there will be six game balls. The object of the game is to hit the opposing team with the game balls, a successful hit will send the man out of the game. A catch will result in the thrower being sent out of the game, and a team mate will rejoin his team. Stepping over the dividing line will have the offender sent off.

Footrace;
A two kilometre race accomplished on foot, no contact, first one to the finish line wins.

Gladiator;

A one on one event, teams will outfit themselves with blunted wooden weapons, the winner is determined by either the yielding of the opposition, or if they are rendered incapacitated to continue the battle.

Hunting;

A single event, each team will be dropped into the Moff’s Forest, with their weapon of choice, each hunter has two hours to bag the biggest trophy they can. The winner is determined by the weight of the animal they killed.

Javelin Toss;

Single event, each team gets three tosses, furthest toss wins.

Unarmed Combat;

Single event, five rounds, the rounds are judged by three judges, highest score wins.

Shooting;

Single event, target shooting using rifles, event is calculated by amount of missed shots, if both parties miss the same amount of shots it is then gauged by who hit closer to the center of the target.

Tug of War;

Team event, six to a team, which ever can pull the opposition past the dividing line wins.

Volleyball;

Team event, six to a team, up to twenty-five, the winning team must win by deuce.


“When do we start this?” Jaenna asked Havock.

“In two days time.” Was the quick reply.

“Should we really be drinking?” Flame questioned.

“Don’t get on my nerves.” Rogueboy answered with a grin as he pushed Grahim’s unfinished shot to the newest member of Raiders.

Her eyes darted between the young man standing in front of her and the woman she knew very well taking shot after shot. She couldn't hear what Jaenna and Aeos were saying to each other, not for lack of straining her ears to the max, but quite possibly due to the private regalling her with his tales of heroism.

"Next thing you know, BAM, we see the control center..."

Havock sighed and drowned her own shot of whiskey before returning to her fruity drink.

Brightstar leaned over next to her and whispered in her ear. "Why are you drinking that?"

She smirked and kept her eyes on Flame, nodding quickly so he continued to think she was listening. "I lost a bet with Grahim, so the blasted gungan gets to pick what I drink for a month. He likes to find the ones with the most flamboyant names just for fun, and to see my face when it comes I think. But in my defense I had no idea Giska's could run that fast."

The red head raised an eyebrow and shrugged.

"They aren't that bad, surprisingly, but the hangovers would kill a bantha."

"So I had to jump down from the moving sled to get the commanders blaster..."

Havock blinked, watching the new private continue, and found herself wondering when he planned to take a breath.

She found herself looking back over at Jaenna. She was obviously tipsy if not drunk, not that anyone else seemed to notice. That worried Havock even more than the perpetual state of concern she found herself in over the green eyed girl. She had been self-destructive and shut off since her sudden return. Hav didn't know what to do to help break that shell, other than staying near to be there when Jae was ready to talk.

"...you every been there, Chief?"

Jae looked over and made eye contact with her then slowly frowned. "Huh?" Havock snapped her attention back to Flame. "I'm sorry, where?"

"Kilos or anywhere on Delrantin. Its where I'm from." He took a sip from the shot Rogueboy had handed him when they had all first arrived. Took him long enough.

"No, sorry. Excuse me one sec."

She took a few steps over and stood next to Jaenna and Grahim, but her eyes were distractedly watching a rival group that had arrived in the cantina. That could end badly. She glanced at Rogueboy to make sure he was occupied and had not yet noticed the rather loud group of cocky troopers.

"Howsa yousa Havvy?"

Havock slowly turned back to Grahim and held up her half drank glass. "Booga Booga, isn't a bad drink, you've done worse."

Grahim's eyes lit up and he practically dove over to grab the drink list from the bar. He pointed at a drink with a practically unpronounceable name. "Ooooh thisa soundin fun for yousa."

"You are enjoying this way too much, Grahim." She leaned over and muttered in Jae's direction. "I'm going to know more drinks than the servebot by the time he's done."

She smirked, barely, and called the bot back for another shot. Havock frowned, "How many is that, exactly?"

"Don't start." She muttered and downed the shot before the bot had the chance to set it down properly.

Havock sighed and looked sadly at her friend. "I think I'm going to do the shooting event, the others just make my head hurt. I mean what the frack is volleyball?"

"Heh, out of all of them shooting's the one I don't want to even watch." Havock still could not even get a smile out of her, but she'd be damned if she was going to stop trying.

"Oooh would that table contain our competition? Maybe I should go introduce us."

She reached out and put her hand on Rogueboy's chest to stop him from getting into what would inevitably turn into a fight. "No, you will not."

"But..."

"They are going to stop letting you in the cantina if you keep it up. Why not instead we get another round of shots, eh?"

For some reason an unconscious person always seemed to weigh a hell of a lot more then someone who was conscious, even when they were injured. Holding Jaenna up by her underarms Rogueboy dragged her to the back. “Not sure if you can hear me in your unconsciousness, but sorry.” He whispered into her ear as he stepped out of the door and dropped her on the grass.

Heading back inside the bar RB returned with a wooden chair. Setting it on the smooth duracrete he patted down Starfruit; removing two blades and a blaster before placed her on top of the chair and used thin plastoid binders to tie her to it. Softly he kissed her on the forehead and whispered. “Good luck.”

Rogueboy then headed into the bar and signalled to Havock that Jaenna was ready, he watched as she stepped outside and he rejoined the rest of the squad on the inside of the bar. “So Flame have you ever seen a grown man naked?”

This earned RB a disapproving look from Aeos, an ear to ear grin from Grahim, and a boring look from Brightstar. “What kind of question is that?” Flame asked aghast.

“The kind that are designed to make you feel uncomfortable, is it working?” He said with a grin. “Servebot! Get me some numa wings!”

“What is the magic word sir?” The droid asked.

“Get me some numa wings before I show you what the scrap yards look like.” RB retorted.

The droid hobbled off to the back of the bar as he mumbled something about the decline of manners. The chit chat seemed to calm down after a while and the squad experienced an awkward silence, mainly because Havock was not here to keep the chat going. Rogueboy couldn’t seem to get the image of Havock kissing Jaenna out of his mind, while he was not in the squad at the time there still were barrack rumours going around. Most of the rumours were derogatory about two females dating, Rogueboy did not believe in love to him the very notion was strange. Like and lust were the only two emotions he had experienced, once many years ago he had thought that he had found love but it turned out to be false hopes. There was nothing dramatic about it, the female that he had thought himself to be in love with did not have the same feelings towards him.

“RB.” Someone’s voice interrupted his thoughts and brought him back to the presence.

“Aye?” He said instinctively.

“So what event are you going to participate in?” Brightstar asked.

“Do they have on that involves lying in bed all day?” He joked.

“Well we can use you as an anchor in tug o war.” She answered with a grin.

“I called gladiator.” He responded.

“Ooh... I think Jae’s not going to like that.” She mused.

“Why do you say that?” Rogueboy questioned.

“Because she’s the best melee person in the squad.” Was the curt reply.

“You know, I’ve never sparred with her, as a matter of fact I haven’t sparred with anyone lately.” Rogueboy started rubbing the short stubble on his chin as he mimicked being deep in thought.

“I think you should give the event to her.” Brightstar said quickly.

“She is faster than me.” He agreed. “But the event is gladiator, not fencing, had fencing been an event I would have been glad to give it to her. Gladiator is more a test of strength and endurance, and frankly I’m stronger than Jaenna.”

“She has an artificial arm, how do you think you’re stronger?” Brightstar asked.

“What if her arm malfunctioned on her? She’s been complaining about it, at least she was until she got her recent upgrade.” Rogueboy was being stubborn.

“It was just a suggestion; don’t let it get to your head, Sensitive Sally.” BS said.

Rogueboy sighed as he shook his head. “If only you knew BS, if only you knew.”

The numa wings arrived and Rogueboy fell to with delight. “What? Food is important when you’re drinking.” He answered to their blank faces.

"Well if anyone could pull her through..." Bright's voice faded as she came up beside Havock. "I have the utmost faith in you." She said patting the womans shoulder. She gave Havock a small smile and started to walk to an occupied table in the far left hand corner of the room.

"Where are you going?" Aeos called.

Bright stopped and looked over her shoulder at her. "Just a little recon, nothing to worry over me about." The red head said. She took another step then stopped and turned. "Unless, of course, I happen to end up in the middle of a fight." Bright winked at the three RAIDERS standing there.

Of course she was planning on sizing up the competition but the whole reason she had planned on heading in that direction at all was because she had spotted a very familiar face indeed. And from the way he had sat forward, he had spotted her.  Without realizing she'd done it, Bright put an extra sway in her step.

She was happy to see him here and wondered vaguely if he was following her. However before she go talk to him, three tall and muscular men surrounded her. One of them looked familiar as well. Tall, well built, and unfortunately for him, sober. Not to mention he was pissed.

"Can I help you gentlemen?" She asked politely. She saw through the gap between the men, that the conversation between Rogueboy, Havock and Aeos had died down and the three were now watching the three men blocking Bright's path back to them. Behind her Bright felt more than heard Alexander stand and start his way toward them.

"Yeah. You can help us by dropping out of the hunt." The familiar man said roughly.

"Davis, right?" Bright asked pointing to him. He nodded and cracked his knuckles. "Ok firstly, you didn't scare me when you were drunk, and you sure as hell don't scare me sober. Secondly its you're own damn fault you can't hold your liquor." Davis's jaw clenched. "And third I'm not dropping out of anything."

To his credit Davis didn't throw the first, but he did throw the second. And too his credit his fist did connect with Brightstar's jaw. That action only seemed to start a fire he was not going to be able to put out.

OOC:

My bio and Raiders Bio updated

Aeos sighed and turned her stool to face the barman again. She pointed at her shot-glass and caught his glance brusquely. The man grunted and dropped the bottle of fire-whiskey into her glass.
“Not gonna help your squad?”

“They are having a ball and taking care of themselves. Fighting aint my style these days.”

“Then what the fuck are you doing here missy?”
Her tail twitched in irritation and before Aeos could can the instinct the tail had unwrapped itself from the small buckle with which she kept it around her waist. It now continued to loll lazily from one side to the other. The fur bristling in slight annoyance.
Aeos flipped the lapel of her coat open and arched one eyebrow at the bartender. The man cough awkwardly at the sight of her rank-indicator.

“I didn’t always shoot and fist to get where I am.”

There was a roar of laughing as Rogueboy and another crashed through one of the tables. The whole room vibrated and Aeos turned around to take a look at her squad. Her eyes settled on Jae.

She had liked the woman previously. Her feelings however now were at a level of indifference. The girl was a loose cannon and cocky canon at that. She frowned. It was normal however for up and coming troopers to go through some phase of cockiness. She herself had gone through that phase. Logging mission after mission after mission and surviving each time and with each survival drawing the attention from superiors again and again till one felt invincible and quite insane.

Aeos was starting to feel the brunt of her field-work. She hated and craved it at the same time.

Havock plopped down on the stool next to Aeos. Aeos signaled for another draft. The Squad-Leader grinned a thanks at Aeos who only stared back at the girl’s slightly reddened knuckles.

“It’s not recommendable for the squad-leader to involve herself in a fist-fight.” Aeos mentioned dryly.

“Who said anything about involving? What about breaking things up huh?” she countered smugly.

Aeos grunted and shook her head.

“So what are you signing up for?”
“Cycling.”

Havock coughed into her drink in laughter at Aeos. Her eyes glinted teasingly.

“How boring. “ She finally managed to splutter.
“Hmh. I fancy a trip into the mountains quite entertaining. The winds, the birds. Shitting on my face as I speed. Yeah. I’ll leave the hardcore shit to the rest of you junkies. “  Aeos flashed a grin at Havock.

Another roar thundered through the room. Aeos and Havock managed to split apart from one another as Dave crashed into the bar while Jae continued her assault on him with a gleeful smirk.
Aeos suppressed the laughter bubbling from inside.

“Hav, if you need me, I’ll be in one of the coffee-shops. They have a whiskey-brew I’m dying to try.”

The table splintered, falling over as she rolled underneath and landed right next to a smoking canister. "Gah, Dammit." Havock scurried on the wooden floor to get away from the gas. She used her sleeve to cover her nose and mouth and ran towards Grahim who happened to be tall enough to see over the chaos of the MP's running into the bar.

Rogueboy was no where to be found, he probably made it out the back before things got too crazy. At least she knew for sure Aeos was safely at the coffee shop down the street, she would probably have another one of her talks with Havock over this mess.

She grabbed Grahims arm and yanked him back away from a fairly drunk guy. "Hey, you okay?" He nodded and seemed to just notice the MP's running through the bar arresting people. "Get the hell out of here then Grahim."

"Havvie, Jae and Bright..."

"Yea I see 'em. You go." The red head threw Davis into one of the windows against the front wall of the bad, sending cracks spiderwebing around him. Jaenna was moving around so fast it was hard to keep tabs on her exact location for more than a few seconds.

Davis was getting up, ready to attack Bright. All Havock could be thankful for was that neither had resorted to using any weapons but they both looked like they would have liked to. She grabbed Bright

from behind by the shoulders and pulled her out of the way then stepped in her place and decked Davis as hard as she could with a left hook. He crashed down into one of the bar tables.

She turned quickly, her eyes were starting to water from the gas. "Go." Havock felt a tap on her shoulder. "You're going to need my help with that one." Bright pointed to the darkhaired girl throwing patrons an impressive distance one after another, she was also managing to draw the attention of the MP's. The one good thing was that she had made her way towards the back of the bar and was the farthest from the gas, but Hav knew that wouldn't last for long, soon they would fire a few canisters into the back rooms.

"Fine but we need to go, and if for some reason we do get caught make sure they can't ID you." Havock and Bright ran up to where Jae was pounding some poor trooper. She tried a few unsuccessful times to yell out the dark haired girls name. She saw the MP's about to come in the back door so she gave up and tackled Jaenna before they could see her, thus sending them both  into the smoke covering the floor. Bright made sure the trooper did not get back up and ran over to help the other two women off the ground.

Havock was rubbing her eyes frantically to stop the burning and just managed to see Jae getting ready to punch some more. "Hey Hey, its me dammit." Jae blinked a few times  and she watched as
her muscles slowly relaxed. "Time to go, hun."

"Hav...problem."

The two women turned towards Bright. She saw through her now blurry eyes her fellow RAIDER with a blaster rifle and an angry looking MP holding her still and she knew it was over.

OOC:

Yes thats right, Havock, Bright and Jaenna have been arrested. How we get out of this predicament I'll leave to you guys. Those of you lucky enough to get away can save us or we can not be damsels and get ourselves out. We have roughly 24 hours before the comp starts to do it in. And I fully expect Aeos to lecture Havock incessantly about her behavior just as soon as she is able to

====The Next Morning====
====Local Tadath MP Detention Center====

Bright sat with her head against the concrete wall of the cells she shared with Havock and Jaenna. The latter woman was beginning to sober up and it was not really a surprise that she was more than a little miffed. Neither woman had gotten any rest and Bright was nursing a bruised jaw, a black eye and a pulled back muscle. She sighed and adjusted the crude cell pillow behind her and sat back gently.

Bright's violet eyes flashed to her two cell mates, as Jae's unmistakable sobering voice raised an octave. "What do you mean it was for the best, Hav?" In contrast Havock's voice was quite and seemingly calm. Bright, however, couldn't hear what she was saying.

Taking a deep breath, the red headed woman closed her eyes and winced as her left eye responded with a start of pain. I guess I'm not invincible after all. She thought feeling heat rise to her cheeks. It had been a long time since she'd been sucker punched and she felt like she was fifteen again.

For the moment, she was able to put it behind her as her mind started shifting gears. Thinking about being fifteen again made her think about the last time she'd been sucker punched. She'd ended up in an NR detention block that looked remarkably like the one she was in right now. Now, just how did I get out of that cell? She asked silently. Her eyes slowly opened and darted around the room, like dragonflies did over the water.

Jae was still in a rave, but Havock had noticed Bright's eyes and the way she kept her face in the perfect stony look she always had when thinking. Havock held up her hand and pointed at Bright. Jae did look like she was ready to argue again, but apparently she thought better of it.

Bright barely noticed the two of them at the moment. She began to see points of interest in the cell. Like the point just over where the door controls would be on the other side of the wall. Her gaze darted back to Jae. Is she sober enough to handle sensitive wiring? The other woman raised a brow in a very distinctive What-The-Hell-Do-You-Want look.

Bright fought down a giggle and began to review the map of the installation that she'd seen on the way in. Left, just outside the cell door; second right, past the first two cell blocks; left again; left after three cell blocks; right again and straight on till the door. Now she just had to think about how to get out of the cell and out of the building from the "cage" doors.

It was easy to think about how to get out. Bright grinned and looked up at her squad leader. "Doesn't it amaze you how poorly these local MP's search a person?" She asked as she slid one of her boots off her feet. Yes, they had been checked before she was placed in the cell but they didn't know about the hidden blade within. Bright dug the padding out of the bottom of her boot and grabbed the vibroblade she'd stashed there for emergencies much like this one.

"Someone should notify their superiors." Havock said shaking her head solemnly. "Did I know you kept aces like that in your boots?" She asked with a smile as Bright replaced her boot.

"Probably not. It's not something I broadcast." Bright replied. "Help me up, my back is killing me." Havock and Jae each took an arm and gently pulled Bright to her feet.

Vibroblade in hand, and a plan in mind, Bright got to work. Switching the blade on Bright drug it across the crumbling mortar between the bricks she'd had her eyes on. She didn't need to be an expert to know that this detention center was one of the older ones. It took her all of fifteen minutes to get to the point where she could pull the brick out and view the wiring from their side. She grinned, satisfied.

"Hey Jae," Bright said standing straight but still with a grimace. "Have fun." She said indicating the cash crop of wiring that was now visible to the only person in the room who likely knew what they were all for. Bright could guess, of course, but she wanted out of that blasted cell before nightfall.

And for the first time since the other woman's return, Bright was rewarded with a genuine smile. "Somehow I get the feeling you've done this before." Jaenna said.

Bright coughed out a laugh. "Lets just say, I've fractured an occasional law or two." She said handing over her switched off blade. Havock just stared. Bright winked and remained standing, breathing deeply and going into a sort of meditative trance. She'd learned how to put pain out of her mind while still an adolescent on Bakura. Her instructors had thought it would be a useful skill for her to learn. She drew upon that knowledge now.

OOC:

OK, Jae, Hav, go ahead and feel free to do whatever at this point. Bright did memorize the twists and turns it took to get their cell so its ok to have her lead out of the facility. I would write more but I really need to go to bed.

“Where the hell are they?!” The noise coming out of the medic was more of a screech than actual words.

Karash did not know where the rest of his squad was but he was not happy; the previous night when they were all partying, he was dealing with Commissioner Hameworth. During that conversation Karash had learnt that there was actually a human being that was even more bureaucratic than him. Hameworth had spent two hours talking to ‘the nearest thing to a medical professional’ in the squad about the state of the competitors and there medical histories. That had left Karash in a foul mood and arriving at the Cantina where the squad was meant to be, to find nothing but shear chaos had made things even worse.

‘The whole damned night I have been trying to find these buffoons! But where are they? I’ll tell you where they are... No bloody where!’ The internal voice in Karash’s head seemed so loud others could actually hear it.

The whirring of a datapad went off somewhere, “Finally one of those drunkards has managed to sober up.” Karash spat.

“This is Commissioner Hameworth, am I speaking with the RAIDERS squad leader?” The universes most tedious man was once again going to have to be dealt with by Karash.

Karash let out a deep sigh and proceeded to talk with the man, “I am afraid not sir, this is...”

“Yes, you’re that corporal I spoke with last night.” The man’s dull tone matched his demeanour.

“I am afraid Sergeant Havock is unavailable...” Once again Karash was cut off.

“Well then I expect she is still recovering from last night’s disgraceful behaviour, and corporal you tell her from me that we will not tolerate that kind of behaviour.” The man seemed to actual show some emotion as he spoke.

“Er... yes sir.” Karash has no idea what had happened but he was not filled with confidence at the whereabouts of his squad.

“Oh and one more thing corporal...” A devilish grin appeared on Hameworth’s face, “If you are not here on time, you will be disqualified from all events.”

Then the man disappeared just as quickly as he had appeared. Once again Karash was left to find his entire squad in less than eight hours and get them to realise just how evil the guy running this thing was. In fact the more he thought about the more he thought Hameworth had some kind of personal vendetta against either him or the squad, ‘Now your just being paranoid’ he thought. Though there was no time to waste, people had to be found and they had to be found quickly.

---A little while later---

Karash had been searching the area around the Cantina the squad had been in the previous night, but to no avail, at least until a rather distinctive figure appeared in the street. The medic really hoped that this would be the one person he did not find, he had not spoken to her until they had had a disagreement on their last mission. Nonetheless she was the only squad member he could find and she would have to do.

“Aeos... Oh for heaven sake I know you can hear me.” He tried to be diplomatic but that was one skill that he was lacking.

She eventually did turn round and the scowl on her face only deepened when she saw who was calling her name. “I really do not have time for you know.”

“Oh well I am sorry if you are too busy for this, but if you and the rest of the squad don’t get themselves ready, we will be laughing stocks.” Karash tried to match her scowl but she really did not seem in the mood for him.

“What?” her attention did seemed to ever so slightly on his words.

“I was not with the rest of you last night because I was talking with a Commissioner Hameworth, who seems to hate us. If we are not where we should be exactly on time we are all doomed to ridicule.” Karash really did try to keep the sarcasm to a minimum.

“I don’t care; I am going to the detention centre to find Hav, Jae and Bright.” With that she scowled once more and stomped off to her destination.

‘What, they’ve been arrested? She could have at least been a little more curtious about it. I mean you try to be polite to people... Why the hell have they been arrested? Where are the rest of them? What was her problem the pompous... ?’ The disorganised thoughts continued to whizz around Karash’s mind.

“Oh...My...Dear aunt sally.” Was possibly the oddest thing Karash had ever said but it came nowhere near close to what he was seeing.

There was a naked man, just strolling down the street without a care in the world and it appeared to be Rogueboy. A part of Karash just wanted to go and burn out his eyes but a part of him knew he had to go and deal with...that.

The last thought that ran through Karash’s mind was ‘Must have been one hell of a night.’

“Rogue!” Karash yelled. “Why the hell are you naked?”

“Kind of wanted to ask you the same question.” He joked, before turning serious. “Well a few of the other guys from the bar escaped the MPs and well...” All of a sudden he turned embarrassed. “They jumped me.”

It was only then that Karash and Aeos noticed the multitude of bruises and small cuts that seemed to almost cover his body. “How many of them were there?” Aeos nearly whispered.

“I think there was only three, it gets kind of hazy.” The assistant squad leader answered. A child was walking right by RB with wide open eyes as he stared at the nude man.

“You wish you had one like this!” He called out to the child.

“Have you no shame?” Karash asked.

“I’m tired, cranky, just got my ass kicked, and I’m pretty sure I was robbed by some street urchins while lying on the ground. What shame can I possibly have left?” Rogueboy asked angrily.

“Cover yourself!” Someone yelled.

Rogueboy turned around and flipped them the finger. “Real nice, jerk!” The unnamed man retorted.

“Do you really want to argue with someone who would rather piss on you?” Rogueboy called back.

“Someone care to lend me some ICs so I can hitch a ride back to either the barracks or my house to get changed and cleaned up?” The nude soldier tried to appeal to the other two.

“Do you think someone is going to give a lift to a naked guy?” Karash answered trying to put things in perspective.

“We’ll find out.” Rogueboy answered as he took the proffered credits from Aeos. “Where’s the rest of the squad?”

“Got busted.” Was Aeos’ curt reply.

“Shame, going to bail them out I suppose?” Questioned the nude soldier.

“No choice really.” Karash interjected. “If we’re not at the game in eight hours we automatically forfeit.”

“Story of my life.” Rogueboy muttered.

“What was that?” Karash asked.

“Nothing, meet you guys at the games.” Rogueboy said as he headed in the opposite direction of the two.

The trip back to Rogueboy’s place was very anti-climatic, he had been able to find a taxi who was willing to drive him under the grounds that the driver first lay a blanket in the back seat.  Upon arriving at the apartment that Alex called home there was some exciting beeping that heralded his entrance. “Hello to you to Patch.”

Another set of beeps prompted a slightly larger explanation from Rogue. “Rough night, need a cold shower.” He explained.

The initial cold blast of the cold water made Rogueboy feel every pain in his body, but that feeling quickly dissipated and was replaced with the intense cold of the shower.

Embrace the cold, feel it as if it were a mother’s warmth.

I would if it wasn’t so fucking cold.

Many say that cold is death whereas life is warmth, both are releases from an existence without meaning.

Are you really going to be philosophical with me right now?

Whatever, enjoy your shower.

Rogueboy shrugged his shoulders lately the “internal voice” as he liked to call it has been leaving him alone. Which he was grateful for but the few times he has shown up his riddles and thoughts have been a tad more depressing than usual.

Pouring himself a bowl of Emperor’s Wheats, and adding blue milk Rogueboy ate breakfast and decided to get some sleep before the events.

Arriving on time for the gladiator event was no easy task, there were security issues when Rogueboy’s pass didn’t work, various lines that seemed to go nowhere. Eventually Rogueboy found the area designed for housing the athletes.

“After the next short intermission we will be having the gladiator battles!” An announcer commentated on the holo-platform.

Rogueboy was lying on a wooden bench wondering how long he would have before some nerf shit would come and interrupt his relaxation, give him the two wooden weapons he had asked for, explain to him the rules and slap his ass and send him out on the ring. At least Rogueboy hoped the guy would slap him on the ass, would give him a chance to use his wooden weapons before the fight.

Sure enough as RB had mentally predicted, a man showed up with a pair of blue shorts, a short sword and a one handed axe. Rogueboy inspected the axe in detail and virtually ignored the sword. Making sure the “blade” of the axe extended over where the haft joined the wood. The reason for this was so that if necessary Rogueboy would be able to “catch” his opponent’s blade on either side. The man droned on about the rules for a bit before giving Rogueboy an encouraging pat on the back and pointed towards the entrance.

The appearance that Rogueboy struck was a tad awkward; as he walked onto the stone arena he couldn’t help but feel that people were staring at the many bruises that marred his body, or the fact that his left eye was swollen shut. All of Rogueboy’s muscles felt stiff from the beating he had taken the night before, and he did a quick stretch while his opponent walked into the arena.

There was some mild cheering from the fans but overall the arena seemed pretty hushed and Rogueboy couldn’t help but wonder why they would put gladiator as the first event. Probably to start it off with a bang. The Raiders soldier thought to himself.

“In the blue trunks, we have a magnificent brawler from Wildcard platoon, he has been with the army for a couple of years now, raise your voices for Rogueboy!” The announced roared the name.

“Aaand wearing the red trunks, this man can take a beating and come back for more is Stanislis from the Atrus!” Once again the announcer roared the name.

There was an uneasy pause as the two contestants stared at each other with about a meter and a half separating one another. “Let the battle begin!” The announcer cried as a bell chimed.

The two opponents just glared at each other, Rogueboy with his one good eye took the first step which prompted his opponent to take a running leap with his shield pulled forward to cover his body.  Rogueboy attempted to sidestep the shield bash but his opponent stuck out his blade in an attempt to catch RB unprepared. With his axe in his left hand Rogueboy parried the blow and used the short blade to create a loud bang on the shield.

The man swing his shield to the left knocking it on Rogueboy’s hand which caused a stinging sensation on the assistant squad leader’s fingertips. Using his sword hand Stanislis took a swing at Rogueboy’s head, raising his axe Rogueboy managed to catch the blow and he used his right foot to kick his opponent in the groin. The crowd oohed as the man took cover under his shield as RB tried to seize the moment by hammering down on it with both weapons. Rogue shrieked in pain as the man smashed the bottom part of his shield on the tip of RB’s foot. Seizing the advantage the Navy man threw his weight behind his shield and drove it into Rogueboy, who collapsed causing Stanislis to trip over him. They both got up as quickly as they could, RB however was a touch slower.

The Navy contestant once again attempted a shield charge, and instead of moving out of the way Rogueboy decided to jump, the shield hit his legs causing him to turn in mid air RB seized the moment by lashing out with his sword and catching his opponent in the back of his left leg. Stanislis reared backwards from the blow at the same time that Rogueboy smacked his head on the stone pavement from the shield blow.

Ever so slowly Rogueboy got up, his head was bleeding and his vision was blurry. Stanislis however was limping and his left leg seemed barely strong enough to support his own weight, however he still didn’t give up yet.

With renewed energy at seeing his injured, Rogueboy pressed the advantage and struck blow after blow on the shield, forcing Stanislis to cower to the ground behind his shield. Dropping his blade, RB reached with his hand and pulled the shield back, exposing Stanislis who attempted to thrust his blade into Rogue’s face, pushing the blade aside with his arm Rogueboy smacked him on the head with the axe, causing the navy contestant to fall down. A whistle signalled the end of the match and Rogueboy threw up his arms in triumph and he exited the arena to go look for Karash.