chapter 146
POV: Lola
Five months later
The ship touched down more roughly than necessary as the AIs were simulating biological piloting. This was going to be our last run. We had been doing this for a while now, but everything should be in place.
Bob was next to me. As I looked at him, with the corner of my eye, I saw him breathing and his body moving like any other biological. I needed to make some modifications to our bodies to make those reflexes biologicals have also be triggered by our subconsciousness.
We should have done that when this ordeal started; it would have made acting a lot easier, but fortunately we were never caught, although it got real close once.
Instead of lowering the ramp like we usually did, we used the airlocks to get out. What greeted us was the ground crew that was going to offload the cargo on the ship, which there actually wasn’t any, as we had as many simple combat drones as possible packed onto the ship.
The ground crew itself was sparse, perhaps only one-third of what usually greeted us. That’s because we picked our timing very carefully. But even now, everything hinged on how well Bob could convince them to postpone the offloading.
“You all look miserable,” Bob announced happily, which annoyed everyone, but over time, they had gotten used to Bob’s antics.
“Of course, we’re miserable. You’re once again here, and the timing couldn’t be worse,” one of the ground crew said, and immediately got a look from their foreman, who wanted everyone to be professional.
“Actually, I managed to secure tickets to the main event, so even though it’s not standard, can we postpone this offloading as we really don’t want to miss this opportunity?”
Bob’s words had the desired effect, as almost all of the ground crew flipped from being miserable to being hopeful. As the foreman looked at everyone around him, he let out a tired sigh.
“You will get a mark for this, Captain Dave, but if you can live with that, sure, go ahead. But I want you back right away after the main event.”
Bob didn’t answer immediately, as a negative mark wasn’t the best to have on the record when it came to the battle moon. But he looked at me a couple of times, then back at the foreman, displaying in my opinion the correct amount of indecision.
“I can live with that,” he finally said.
The ground crew immediately started heading back to the waiting area, some of them even sprinting.
“How much have those guys wagered?” Bob asked the foreman.
“Probably a couple of months of their wages. I will either have to find new workers soon, or they will be begging for an advance,” he said while shaking his head, which made the tentacles coming from his chin wobble quite weirdly.
Bob took the lead as I followed. We didn’t communicate with each other, not about anything important, just small talk that, if anyone was listening in, would sound normal.
The streets were quite empty, but in every establishment that had large enough windows to look through, we could see people gathered around the screens watching today’s entertainment.
While there were fights almost every day on the battle moon, the biggest events were always when the Duke’s gladiators fought. Today was especially special because there were twelve fights between the Duke’s gladiators, which was quite a rare occurrence.
Basically, everything had ground to a halt on the battle moon, as everyone was focused on the spectacle. I don’t know how the captain managed to get us tickets, but it was important that we showed up and watched this fight; that way we could signal to him to go ahead with the plan.
I was quite nervous, especially as we walked through the gates, and the noise of the hundreds of thousands of people cheering during the fights started to crash into us.
This colosseum was massive, and so it took us some time to finally emerge from inside of it. As we did, the real noise of this place finally hit us. Three hundred thousand cheering people were truly something I’d never seen before.
The entire place was packed tight, but I never expected such order and manners. No one was throwing food around, no drinks were being spilled, at least not on purpose. As we walked towards our seats, people gave way, allowing us to pass without any problems.
“Everyone here has proper manners. Wouldn’t be a bad place to live if I’m honest,” Bob commented as we were nearing our seats.
Currently, there were still fights between gladiators, but even they were a cut above the regulars. The reason for it was quite simple: because today’s viewership would be incredibly high, many wanted to get the before and after slots around the Duke’s fights.
“Look at this fight. I’ve always told you that the top of the regulars are better fighters than a lot of the Duke’s gladiators,” I heard someone behind us discussing as we had just sat down and made ourselves comfortable.
“And once again I’m not disagreeing with you, but you have to admit the spectacle during his is on another scale. You have to remember that it’s more about how it looks, not the actual power level.”
“But you have to admit, if the power level is low, it’s not worth it. And yes, before you start, if it’s too high, none of us could actually witness the fight properly. But there is a sweet spot, and I think a lot of the Duke’s gladiators are underneath it.”
They continued to argue while I focused on others as well, trying to gather as much information as possible.
This was the first time we had been able to come here like this, although Bob had been here two times before, but not to witness any of the Duke’s fights, and of course, because of this, the Colosseum was a lot emptier.
“Who are you betting on? Some have really good odds, although the power difference for a few of the Duke’s fights are a bit off.”
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“Yeah, I agree. But I always put some on the low odds, as the payouts are just too good, and each of those fighters are clever enough to sometimes pull off a surprise victory.”
“Yeah, I really should start doing that as well. Bet it feels amazing when they win.”
“Oh, you have no idea. But never put too much, otherwise you’ll just regret it, as 99% of the time you still lose. But most of my money is on Remi Graves. While his odds are not the best for making profit, he has yet to lose a fight.”
“Yeah, I did the same. It’s basically guaranteed profit at this point. Although he does seem to have really good luck of never getting an opponent that’s a counter for him or too strong.”
“That is a bit suspect, to be honest. Perhaps he has some type of skill that helps him not get the bad matchups?”
“That would be quite the skill. Wish I had something like that.” Then they both chuckled and focused back on the fight that was currently happening.
Talks like that were quite constant, and I was surprised by how many times captain’s name was spoken.
The fights were quite the spectacle, and the huge screens that floated above the fighting arena really helped everyone see what was happening. They even had instant replays after and during the fight of the most crucial points.
The commentators were way too good.
“Lola, perhaps we should buy some of the match events that happened previously with the commentary. This seems like an excellent teaching tool.”
Before I could answer, the person sitting next to Bob answered instead.
“Those two have been commentating for over two centuries. It’s not boasting when I say they are absolutely the best at what they do. Some even sign up for a few fights just to get their critiques.”
“Wait, they are the commentators for every fight?”
“Only the ones happening in this Colosseum. You actually need to pay to fight but trust me. If you want to get better, it’s a cheap price to pay.”
I made a mental note to tell this to FH as soon as we got back, as she might have some time to get us some videos. If not, the current recordings I’m doing of the fights and the commentary here should be enough.
Before the Duke’s fights started, I was momentarily shocked as I thought the captain walked out, but instead, it was another human. So, they had already gotten to this place.
From what the captain told me, he expected humans to spread out, as singular individuals would be drawn to every corner of the galaxy and beyond. While most humans had the desire to stay with other humans, it seems that some would want to get as far away from other humans as possible, the captain being a perfect example.
This human seemed to be fighting with his fists and had some sort of skills that allowed him to channel lightning, not just to increase his attack power but to speed himself up as well. From his face, it seemed that this brought him quite a lot of pain, but he didn’t seem to care.
The electricity arcs coming off him every time he moved or attacked looked quite spectacular, and I wasn’t the only one thinking:
“If he doesn’t get into the Duke’s gladiators soon, I will eat my left shoe.”
“So true, his fights are so amazing to watch. His human like Remi Graves. Never heard of this species before those two.”
“I believe they’re quite a recent one, but nothing beyond that.”
This human was up against a large insect-type individual that kinda resembled an ant, but not exactly. It could manipulate its sparse, thick and long hairs around its body, making it quite difficult for the human to land any proper attack, but a few lucky strikes ended the fight in about four minutes.
The Duke’s gladiators put on more spectacular shows, almost like it were scripted. And I did hear discussions of that, but no one really believed it, because there were no special devices or skills that saved anyone during these fights. While there was an order to not purposely kill anyone. Everyone still went all out, so death was quite common.
Some of the newer Duke’s gladiators were wearing simple armour and had simple weapons. The reason for it was that everyone started with basic gear, and only by winning could they upgrade, but there was a limit. Those upgrades weren’t meant to give you a quality advantage; they were to allow you to specialise.
There were multitudes of beginner sets you could choose from. The one who currently walked out had been a Duke’s gladiator for quite a while. Its species was quite different from others. I’d say it was quite similar to a crocodile, but also had a tail that more resembled a scorpion’s.
It was obviously an uplifted individual, as its fine manipulators and many other features were technological. Its tail didn’t have a stinger, but it did have a projector-type weapon quite similar to gunpowder guns.
Pulling up the information, I learned that usually it had a magic-tech plasma rifle instead of the current lower-tech gun, but it wasn’t allowed to bring that type of technology to these fights.
After the announcer finished introducing her—it turns out this fighter was a female, although it definitely didn’t look like one—it was hard not to react to the next name the announcer said, as the captain walked out from the other side.
He was wearing the stylised metal armour that protected his vitals, but there were obviously gaps. He had a one-edged sword, but it wasn’t curved.
“He’s still wearing his basic equipment. Is he saving up for something big? I don’t understand.” Someone said.
“Who cares? His odds to win just lowered. This means more credits if he wins.”
The captain’s eyes swept through the spectators. He definitely saw us, even though his eyes continued to roam. We also didn’t give any signal to make, as our presence was the signal that the plan would continue.
Honestly, the fight was unfair. I’m pretty sure the captain could influence his opponent’s cybernetics enough to gain the advantage at a crucial moment, but I don’t know if he’ll actually do it because FH said that he has been unusually fair in his fights.
Now that I knew a bit more about what ordinary people watching the fights were looking for, I knew that ending the fights immediately—unless you were critically weaker than your opponent—would be a bad idea. They were not here just to win fights; they were also here to entertain.
So when the fight started, the captain didn’t rush in. Instead, he stood his ground, using his sword to deflect the projectiles that were fired at him. The last time we saw the captain, he certainly couldn’t do what he was doing right now.
I wanted to ask questions and talk this through with Bob, but I’m pretty sure the captain has been constantly practising. There might not be a better place for training in the entire galaxy.
The captain wasn’t perfect in his defence, but the bullets still hit his armour, ricocheting off it. Slowly, he started to walk towards his opponent, who started to understand that a ranged fight wasn’t going to get her the win.
“It’s just basic armour, how is it that strong? And that sword, there should be no way it can take so many hits from that gun.”
“He must have some skill that allows him to harden his equipment, that’s the only explanation.”
I once again heard people discussing, and more than just this pair, plenty were trying to figure out the captain’s skills.
The crocodile didn’t have endless ammunition, and instead of wasting it all, she decided to charge in, trying to use her bulk to crush the captain.
The captain jumped, making it look effortless, trying to get onto the back of the crocodile, but it seems she anticipated that, firing its tail gun.
For a moment, I was shocked, but the shot was aimed at centre mass, and it seems that the captain’s armour somehow managed to block it. Instead, he was pushed backwards.
The captain rolled a few times and then got back on his feet. Everyone expected more shots, but then a replay was shown, showing that the captain, instead of trying to block the shot with his sword, had struck downward, piercing the crocodile’s hide near its front shoulder, and used the shot that pushed him back to open up a large wound.
The crowd went crazy when they saw that. It seems the captain was quite certain where that projectile was going to hit, and that his armour could take the shot.
What followed was a close-up fight, as the crocodile was using its artificial manipulators to wield two long fighting sticks made out of metal, and every so often firing its tail gun, while the captain was attacking and defending using his sword.
The captain should have been at a heavy disadvantage, and he was constantly being pushed back, but his movements were good enough to not allow himself to get cornered around the edges of the arena. Somehow, each shot from that tail gun either missed—which seemed impossible—or was deflected by the captain’s armour.
While there weren’t any flashy skill uses like in some of the other fights, just seeing a regular person holding his own against such a big intelligent animal just made you want to cheer the fight on.
Each time they showed replays of the projectiles bouncing or nearly missing in slow motion. It was hard to keep my nerves down, as each one of those could have ended the captain if they had just hit a bit more straight on.
While there was no flashy skill usage, the area around the two fighters was saturated with spent mana, as both were using so much of it during each second of the fight.
Then the captain did something crazy. After being hit in the helmet once again by the tail gun, the projectile actually bounced and hit one of the manipulators of the crocodile.
The captain darted in, but the crocodile already had its other fighting stick protecting its neck. But to the surprise of all, instead of attacking its vulnerable neck, the captain rushed further in underneath the belly of the crocodile.
Groans could be heard, and cursing as everyone knew what a stupid move that was. The captain’s opponent didn’t waste a second and just let herself drop, trying to crush the captain with her bulk.
The camera showed a flash of steel as the captain had pointed the sword upwards.
“No, not a draw! I lose everything!” I heard someone yell. The only way to get a draw was if both fighters died.
We all nervously watched, and while I didn’t know exactly how much the crocodile weighed, the captain was made of sterner stuff than just flesh.
The crocodile tried to stand, but its legs gave out, and soon she was unconscious. Healers rushed in, and so did huge bulky individuals, probably so they could lift the crocodile off the captain.
But instead, we all watched as the captain pushed one side of the crocodile’s body up while holding the sword steady.
What was spoken we couldn’t hear, but soon the healers were holding their hands near the sword, and others came to support the crocodile’s body so that it wouldn’t move, taking the strain off the shaking body of the captain. Who was barely able to keep holding the crocodile even on its side.
The sword was pulled out, and healing magic used. Soon, we could all see the healers happily smiling, with the announcer’s voice drowning out everything a moment later.
“The healers said that she will make a full recovery. The victory of this match belongs to Remi Graves!”
Cheering followed, and not just because of the amazing fight or the victory, but because of the honor shown by our captain in trying to save a defeated opponent.
Well, the captain left, our job was now to stay here and continue to watch the fights long after the last of the Duke’s gladiators finished their battles. The plan required us to delay as much as possible while so more of their pirate lords’ excited idiots got in place to begin their attack.