Team Ra’ventrii descended down below the dome via special tubular highways that connected the city’s Upper Dome to its Lower Dome. The truth was, every single dome on the planet was actually only half visible.
Half of it floated above the surface, while the other half was constantly submerged. This was necessary for its own stability, locomotion, and even energy. Multiple giant hydroturbines dotted all over the Lower Dome kept the city geographically positioned and powered at the same time.
In fact, most of the city’s power was stored and distributed through the Lower Dome. But it wasn’t the only thing that was down there. In fact, nearly a third of the city’s Drogar lived and worked down there.
When they first arrived, Eva, Miko, and all the other humans were briefed on the basic layou
Kaio-kennn! Times Five!!!
Eva hopped down from her opponent’s lifeless corpse, her breaths hot and heavy. Her little stunt had easily eaten away half of her stamina, and her breathing had become incredibly labored to compensate. What she needed was some extra time to get as much as she could back, at least before her next fight.She walked over to the side of the ring, where Szereth and Severas were standing.“You know,” said Severas, “more than half these thugs didn’t understand you, right?”“What? Ugh! But I had my pose down and everything!”“Not every Drogar’s equipped with translation nanites,” added Szereth. “Usually only traders, politicians, soldiers, mercs, and so on. People who deal with the border. Deep in the core,
Szereth slumped down in his seat next to Alevos, and emitted something between a grunt and a groan.“Not enjoying the view?” asked Alevos. “Or are first level box seats not to your liking?”Szereth looked around the box seats that Alevos had secured, somehow. It was small, cozy, and most importantly private. A large window in front of them revealed the rest of the arena, both its fighting floor and the rest of the stands.The surrounding stands were filled with a great many Drogar of all kinds. Tens of thousands, it seemed. There were dozens of levels, each one with multiple box seats scattered all around.He estimated there was enough room to fill the coliseum with 200,000 Drogar.They had a com
Rezhathii’s fans erupted in wild cheers when she saw her slam her opponent a dozen meters away, but soon quieted when they saw Eva recover quickly. Those cheering fans quickly turned to jeer at her, as though she had cheated them of her defeat.A few were astounded by what they saw.“D-did you see what that human did?”“So what? It’s just another frail ape! It’s only gotten lucky so far - just you watch!”To some, it was unthinkable that any Drogar would fall to any human and did their best to reinforce that idea among those around them. A few were completely unconvinced and realized that there was more to humans than frailty.Rezhathii was one of those Drogar. She now understood that
Eva stumbled slightly as the platform hit the bottom of the Pit. As she ambled out into the preparatory floor, the corpse of her dead opponent was dragged off to who knows where.She grasped at her abdomen, which dripped blood out of her two puncture wounds.“That was really kinda dumb of me,” Eva muttered.“Yeah, it was,” Severas said.She had made her way to Eva’s side quickly the moment the platform hit the bottom. The Justicar placed a hand on her shoulder and helped steady her.“Armor got dinged up a bit,” said Eva, “and I gotta get it patched up.”“No,” replied Severas. “We need to get you to the clinic
Admiral Chase and Swarmfather Retholis stepped through the lowered gate, out of the prisoner compound, and into the Green Zone. They, along with Retholis’ personal guard, headed towards his private gondola parked nearby. “You really oughta stop taking me out like this,” said Admiral Chase. “You’re making it look like we’re arranging a political marriage between us.” “That’s not a thing with you humans?” said Retholis. “What a shame. You could be doing yourselves a favor. Sometimes, the empire needs the stability afforded by them.” “Well, they do happen, just with the corporations. They do it to seal alliances with each other, following ancient traditions or whatever bullshit. As if sharing blood ever stopped us from spilling it.” “Sounds like you don’t approve.”
Grunts and shouts spilled into the air as Talyss and Eva danced around each other in their sparring circle and exchanged blows. A handful of Avicii Raptors watch them from the trees above. Their eyes watched the two with rapt attention.Eva, breaths hard and heavy, spun blade-first at Talyss’ throat. Determination was set deep in her eyes, even as sweat poured down all around her forehead.In contrast to Eva’s wide, sweeping movements, Talyss was absolutely calm and moved just enough to get out of the way. Sometimes she would parry Eva’s strikes with her thin baton, but with such grace that it didn’t seem she used any power at all.“One, two, three,” she said, “and press!”With the same cadence as Talyss’ countdown, E
Cheers erupted from the stands as duelists cut each other to ribbons on the arena floor below. Fresh blood splattered down across the fighting rings, and clumped up from the sand surrounding. With slightly labored breaths, Eva adjusted her stance as she reassessed her opponent. There were a number of scratches across her armor, along with a handful of actual cuts. And her opponent - a tall and lithe Drogar in highly ornate armor - also looked similarly worse for the wear. Her breathing was hard, and her armor was covered with numerous cuts. A few bled. In her hand was a long beltknife that held tiny serrations all along its edge. The two duelists circled around each other and adjusted their stances as they searched for any openings from the other. “You’re
With her blade high in the air, Eva swung it down with incredible power. Her slash tore at the air in front of her and headed straight towards her opponent’s head. But before it could get there, it was stopped by her opponent’s beltknife. Though her opponent was able to parry her decisive blow, he was pushed back from the sheer force of it. He stumbled backwards with clumsy steps, but was able to catch himself before he completely lost his balance. His body heaved visibly as he fought vainly to catch his breath. And his armor was covered in scratches and cuts, some of which bled. “Dammit, human!” said the challenger, “How’re you this damned good?!” “Practice,” Eva responded. “Gah! Don’t ridicule me! I practice ever