BOOOOM
The turret fell to the ground, and a small explosion—powerful enough to obliterate an entire leg—erupted just beneath where the turret had been mounted.
Ali glanced at the aftermath of the blast, his eyes then lifting to the towering metal pillars that loomed above. He slowly tilted his head and stepped sideways until he spotted another turret perched atop a different structure.
'Better off up high,' Ali thought as he leapt upwards, aided by the Force. He ascended just below the tops of the metal columns before launching himself from one pillar to the next.
Momentum built with every step. Ali was now gliding effortlessly through the arena, darting between the labyrinthine steel like a phantom. The turrets didn't even have time to lock on before he vanished behind another structure.
VVVVVVVVVV
Ali heard the faint whir of a miniature fan in the air above him, though there was nothing visible. He already knew—it was one of the cloaked drones.
BANG
With a flick of the Force, Ali sent a burst of air in every direction. The drone was caught mid-flight, smashed violently against a nearby pillar, where it exploded in a compact detonation similar to the mines scattered across the terrain.
VVVVVVVVV
VVVVVVVVV
VVVVVVVVV
'I need to find her…' Ali thought, his ears ringing with the hum of approaching drones. He was now evading kamikaze drones, dodging automated turrets, and avoiding a weapon capable of vaporising reinforced steel.
His opponent observed from her hidden perch. On her digital scope, a red energy bar filled to capacity—her sniper rifle had fully charged. The rotating barrel shimmered with heat, the air around it visibly distorted.
She locked onto Ali's position using the drones still tailing him. Through her visor, a holographic image of Ali's silhouette appeared, a predictive model based on real-time telemetry.
BREATH
She inhaled, her body still as stone. The rifle rose to her shoulder.
ONE. TWO.
Her mind counted the seconds. She had the rare dexterity and precision to track a target as fast as Ali. Her finger hovered, tense, ready to pull the trigger.
"INCOMING."
A red alert flashed violently on her visor, her AI's voice filling her helmet. A threat warning lit up to her right.
SLASH
A flash of red tore through the barrel of her cloaked sniper—Ali's lightsaber. The massive rotating chamber, brimming with energy, was suddenly sliced in half.
She reacted instantly, discarding the weapon and leaping backward.
But it wasn't enough.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOM
The sniper rifle detonated in a devastating blast, engulfing two entire pillars and turning them into pools of molten slag. Debris rained down in a fiery cascade.
She crashed hard onto the metal flooring, her helmet fractured and her battle suit scorched. Though her suit had absorbed most of the damage, her helmet was now destroyed.
With the helmet gone, her AI lost connection. Every drone and turret on the battlefield shut down, dropping lifeless from the sky or freezing in mid-function.
She removed the shattered helmet and let it fall with a heavy clang. Her short black hair, singed at the tips, dropped around her chin. Red cybernetic eyes shone through the smoke. Thin red circuit lines glowed faintly beneath her skin, trailing from her neck to her brow. She looked barely human—an elegant, deadly machine made flesh.
STEP. STEP. STEP. STEP.
From the curtain of smoke and flame, she saw him. A broad silhouette walked toward her—composed, deliberate, unstoppable. In his right hand, a cross-guard lightsaber hummed, the weapon distorting the air around it with violent heat.
It was the same saber that had destroyed her sniper in a single throw.
But there was no panic in her face. She straightened up, dusted the ash from her torso, and stared directly at Ali.
STEP.
Ali advanced one more pace. But just as he did, she raised her arms and bent them at the elbow.
CLACK.
From thin air, two .50 caliber sniper rifles appeared—one in each arm. These rifles were massive, meant to be handled by heavy-duty tripods or vehicles. Yet she held one in each hand with no support.
Ali halted, assessing the weaponry. He raised his lightsaber cautiously.
BOOOOOM
BOOOOOM
BOOOOOM
BOOOOOM
The crowd gasped. The slim woman unloaded both snipers at once, again and again, her arms completely unfazed by the extreme recoil. The arena trembled with every thunderous shot. Clouds of dust erupted with each impact.
Ali activated his Force Sense.
'I can see the shape of each bullet—their trajectory, spin, velocity…' he thought, amazed by the precision of his perception.
His lightsaber began to blur.
ZZZZ. FLASH. ZZZZ.
Ali parried each bullet with fluid, nearly invisible motions. The impacts triggered explosive bursts upon contact, coating him in smoke. But he never faltered. For ten straight seconds, he deflected every high-caliber round until both rifles clicked—empty.
Ali vanished.
He reappeared in front of her, lightsaber poised.
She reacted quickly, snapping her elbows forward. Twin shotgun barrels emerged from within her arms.
BANG. BANG.
Ali blasted her away with a Force Push, narrowly avoiding the shotgun spray that would have torn through him.
She was hurled backwards but caught herself mid-air. The soles of her feet lit up red and activated anti-gravity thrusters, allowing her to hover above the ground. This was high-grade equipment, far beyond what was available to most players.
Ali rushed forward.
But then she did something unexpected.
Instead of drawing another weapon, she began forming hand signs—fast. Ali's eyes widened.
'I know this… She's casting a spell.'
He slowed to watch as her fingers wove together. She reached the final sign and shouted:
"CHIDORI!"
Blue electricity engulfed her arm as she launched herself straight at Ali like a missile, the roar of the spell echoing across the arena. The ground beneath her sparked and cracked from the raw energy.
In the stands, members of the lightning guild stared in shock—especially at the spell she wielded. Their expressions twisted in envy and disbelief.
Ali remained still. He lowered his lightsaber and slowly raised his left hand toward the charging cyborg.
'It's the last duel. Let's give them something to talk about…' he thought, glancing briefly at the roaring crowd.
"FORCE LIGHTNING."
His voice rang out.
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
Red lightning exploded from his palm, consuming three points of Spirit in an instant. The bolts of lightning shot forward and slammed into her mid-air.
She froze.
Electricity ripped through her armor and circuits. Her body contorted violently as the Chidori in her hand fizzled out. Her battle suit melted, sparking and burning as internal systems fried.
The lightning invaded her body and cooked her from the inside out. Her synthetic skin blackened and cracked as her limbs trembled in place. She couldn't scream—her vocal cords were already gone.
Ali didn't stop.
He unleashed the full fury of the Force until her body collapsed, completely charred and motionless, a smouldering corpse on the scorched metal.
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