Eclipse Braced himself against the wall. Outside, he heard a staccato of Assault Rifle fire. The Health packs had finished their work long ago. Really, it only took a handful of seconds, but it seemed like an eternity. He was at about 50 life now, but he decided to hang back, and wait for another health pack to be teleported in. Some people called it camping, but he would only be another minute, and this was not a spawn point, so to hell with them.

"Frag Booster is on a RAMPAGE!" The announcer shouted.

Frag Booster was one of the top 3 combatants in the entire tournament. He, Crimson Frost, and Xan Kriegor were the 3 most feared, deadliest fighters the tournament had ever seen, racking up kill counts and performing feats that many thought impossible. He had fought against all 3 several times, even teamed up with Frost and Frag a few times, but he had never been in the arena with all 3 at the same time before. Eclipse was in 4th place, a few kills behind them, while they battled back and forth for the lead. It was a close fight.

The match was last man standing, with each warrior having 5 respawns. Eclipse had used 1 already, but none of the top 3 had used any, while each being responsible for dozens of kills so far. Frost won the "Head Hunter" Title long ago, dropping people with the Sniper Rifle, while Frag won "Flak Monkey" after clearing out a room of 24 combatants alone, and Xan had earned "Combo Whore", from clearing out hallways with the Shock Rifle. Eclipse wondered briefly, who was the deadliest with which weapon?

He remembered the first time he was in a match with them. It was CTF-Face, Eclipse was on Red team, lead by Frag Booster. Crimson Frost lead Blue team. Even though he was the "D" Tier Champion, it was a huge honor to be selected to fight alongside someone like Frag Booster.

He arrived at the Liandri Arena Complex, which inside, was something like a huge workshop, with competitors given their own "Pit". He went to his, and greeted his operator, who, even though Eclipse was about an hour early, was still their earlier, setting things up, making sure everything was perfect. His operator, Kara Calle, was part mechanic, part technician, part… well, phone operator. Normally, an operator simply communicated with them during the match, relaying information, answering questions, and things of that nature. However, Kara insisted on going over the settings of his armor, preferred weapon settings (Most spectators didn't know, but each competitor could adjust things like rate of fire, choke, and things like that. When he picked up a weapon, it automatically took on his settings.), and even mapped out the arena, with all the known locations to weapons, power ups, places for a good ambushes, sniping points, the works. Obviously, he had fought on CTF-Face before, and knew all of that, but she insisted. Her thoroughness did help him relax, and had helped in other matches before.

He also saw Frag Booster and Crimson Frost, talking together heading to the cafeteria. It was no secret that while they would go at each other relentlessly in the arena, they were actually good friends. Eclipse had met several people he considered friends, and when he joined the team ladders as a captain, was considering recruiting to his team.

Kara interrupted his train of thought. "I found out this match was with Chaos Weapons. Were you aware of that?" Chaos Weapons were made by, obviously enough, Chaotic Dreams. They were a military arms manufacturer before the Skaarj Wars, but after they struck veritable gold on the surface, they became a private weapons manufacturer. "No one told me anything. I'll pick my melee weapon in a minute." One of the things they found on the surface was some technology or technique to allow melee weapons to no only penetrate modern day armor, but pass through it as if it wasn't there. The addition of true Melee weapons brought a completely new side to the arena. Eclipse choose the Dual Daggers, since he had some training on knife fighting back before he joined. He asked his teammates and one choose the Bastard Sword, another choose the Double Axe, someone else choose the Templar Sword, and someone choose a Warhammer. He heard that after a coin toss, Frag booster and Frost both choose the katana.

When the match began, he started behind the tower. He ran, and grabbed a C.U.T.T.E.R., which was a remake of the Ripper, but with improvements to allow it to penetrate the modern armor used. He ran inside, grabbed a Crossbow and some Explosive arrows for it, and ran to the Central Teleporter. Usually he preferred close range combat, but with he knew that Frag Booster was going to their base, and would need covering fire. He Grabbed the Rifle, and a clip of Normal bullets, and RPB Rounds. He dropped off the right side, down 2 levels. From here, he could barely see the Blue entrance, but it would be much harder to spot him there. Loading up a round, he first looked at the top of their Tower, and saw him. Clad in Black Armor, with Red Highlights, with Team Color Blue shoulder pads, was Crimson Frost, already drawing a bead on someone. They both fired at the same time. While Eclipse couldn't see if Frost's show hit home, he saw Frost leap to the side, right off the tower, to avoid the bullet. That's not possible…. He dodged it! He chambered another round, hoping to hit him mid air, and they both fired again. Eclipse felt his shoulder explode in agony, and he fell off the tower. Even through the pain, he saw his shot hit Frost in the same shoulder, but he twisted with the impact, and landed on his feet, a small crater forming where he landed. Eclipse wasn't so lucky, landing on his upper back, dieing instantly.

And he survived that… damn. He ran, and grabbed the MUG in front of him. It would be useless at long range, so he ran inside again, this time grabbing a Rocket Launcher. He noticed that someone had set up 2 Large Turrets, and 3 Small turrets. It would stop most people, but he had his doubts if it would even slow down Frost…

He ran, and jumped straight off the ledge outside of his base. He fired his grappling hook at the piece of rock in the middle, swung under the walkway, and landed in front of their base. In addition to their 4 Large Turrets. They started to track him, and he fired a trio of rockets at one. Just as it came in line, the 3 hit, dead center. Behind the smoke, he could see 2 Miniguns spinning up to speed… He rolled to the side, dozens of bullets following him. Running as fast as he could, he felt several bullets bounce off his armor, and several penetrate to bite into his flesh. He jumped off the side of the ground, grappled the bottom, and swung up to the middle again, this time his momentum carrying him up to the second level, away from the turrets. He was at 60 life, so he was fine for the moment. He wondered for a moment where the blue team was… until one appeared through he teleporter in front of him. The he apparently wanted the Gravity Vortex, inbetween him and Eclipse, but the look on his face revealed he was not expecting to see someone up here with him. Eclipse selected his MUG, and he could react, bathed his opponent in flames, incinerating him in seconds. After he finished, he scooped up the Vortex, and stepped over the burning corpse in front of him. Once down in the base, he ran over, and grabbed the flag. Now came the fun part…. Trying to get out, no doubt with the entire blue team gunning for him. He knew Frost would be on top, waiting for him to exit, and there was no way he could make it with him sniping at him. He ran to the central teleporter, took a breath, and ran through, at top speed. Frost was waiting, as he had expected, and Eclipse rushed him. With super human reflexes, Frost turned around, and was able to fire one shoot into Eclipse's gut before he shoulder rammed him.

Both were now in free fall, the Rifle knocked from Frosts hands. Frost shoot his grappling hook at the tower, and pulled himself back up, but Eclipse dove for the gap in the ground, past the turrets, and fired his hook at the ledge, the same as before, and swung over to his own base. He noticed several corpses in front of the base, thankful for the turrets, and that they had been too busy to try to stop him as well. He hobbled into his base, and stuck the flag into the stone next to his own.

"Did you see that ladies and gentlemen? Even the great Crimson Frost couldn't stop him!"

The fact that Eclipse slumped down on the Stone, and died from his wound must have been irrelevant. Great, now Frost is going to be gunning for me!

He tried to capture the flag again, but Frost killed him each time he got near the base. Someone on the blue team managed to capture the red flag twice while he was trying, meaning that blue team was ahead 2-1.

He respawned again. He had never had so much trouble attacking a base before. A quick look at the scoreboard revealed exactly what he was up against. Frost and Frag Booster both had 35 kills already. He was the only person anywhere near their scores, with 20. The match was going by fast. He hadn't even seen Frag yet, but apparently, he was not only holding off the entire other team, he was dominating them. The same went for Frost.

Shaking his head, he ran forward and grabbed the C.U.T.T.E.R. again. He didn't run into the base this time, and continued running across the level. He wasn't sure how to deal with the turrets yet, but he would think of something. What he saw amazed him. 3 turrets were smoldering wreckage, and another was obviously on its last legs. Lat legs hmmm… That gives me an idea! He approached the turret, and as a credit to its makers, it still started to track him with surprising speed. He fired 3 blades at it, and watched them as they flew. The first hit its front leg, slicing it partway in half, severing hydraulics, the second was slightly to the left, hit it and stuck in, further damaging the leg, and the last struck right below the first 2, completely severing the leg. It tipped forward, and hit the ground, crushing its ammo reserves, detonating the rockets simultaneously. One of the Blue team members leaped out of the second story of the building, right at him, firing the crossbow at him. He leapt backward, firing the cutter several times. The first shot grazed her right thigh; the second removed her left leg below the knee. The third went caught her on the right arm, severing it, biting deep into her chest at the same time. The final shot hit her open mouth, with the predicable result of cleaving off most of her head in a shower of blood.

Satisfied with the results, he proceeded into the base, and finally caught his first sight of Frag the entire match. Frag booster and Crimson Frost, wielding their katanas, were locked together, both trying to push each other back. Taking a chance, he ran past them, and rolled when he was behind Frost, as Frost span around, trying to slice him in half. He blocked Frag's strike, and returned his attention to his opponent. Eclipse ran and grabbed the flag, and fired his grappling hook at the entrances ceiling. He swung past the fight, and started to swing back to his base. Frost turned and followed him, but as he left the door, he saw the other members of blue team heading in with their melee weapons to slow Frag down.

He made it back to his base, ran and captured the flag. Turning around, he saw Frost standing in the down, katana in hand. "You're going to pay for that, bitch." He pressed a button on his belt, and drew the Gravity Vortex he picked up from the blue base. He fired it at Frost, and dove behind the central pillar to avoid the miniature black hole. Frost dove at where he was standing, fired his grappling hook into the flag stone, and stood watching Eclipse as the storm raged. Eclipse could tell that the storm on the outside was nothing compared to the fury Frost was about to unleash on him. Eclipse Drew his daggers, for all the good that would do. He held the one in his left hand reversed against his wrist, and the one in his right hand upright. Once the storm cleared, Frost released his hook, and moved forward slowly.

His first attack was a downward slash, which was so fast, Eclipse barely had time to block it with his left dagger. He lashed out is his other dagger, saw Frost spin to avoid it, and slash horizontally. Eclipse span in response, bringing his left dagger in line with Frosts attack. He leapt into the air, using Frosts blade as leverage, and somersaulted over his head. Frost span in the same direction as before, and barely had time to get his right dagger up to block the slash, which would have taken his head off. He slashed with his left dagger, but Frost countered by knocking his arm out of the way with his free hand, and slamming a fist in Eclipse's armored face.

No matter what I do…I can't break through… and his attacks are getting stronger!

He saw Frost sheath his Katana, and get into a lower stance. This doesn't look good... He saw Frost tense, and then seemingly disappear. Instinctively, he brought his daggers in line to block here he thought Frost was attacking, feel a truck slam into them. His daggers broke against the attack, but the force of the attack pushed him back to the raised stone. How can he be that fast in his armor! Frost took several quick steps back, and returned to his sheathed sword stance. Knowing what was coming, he rolled to the side, towards the entrance. Frost's attack missed him by millimeters, and only the force field protecting the flag stone stopped his sword. Eclipse continued to move back, to the area opposite the flag. Frost stepped forward, and entered his stance one more time. There was no flag stone behind him, and even if he rolled, Frost would still hit him. He was dead. Then, Frag Booster appeared at the entrance, holding his katana, and the Blue flag.

"Leave the rookie alone, Frost." Frost kept his stance, between Frag, Eclipse, and the flag. Frag handed Eclipse the flag, sheathed his sword, and entered the same stance as Frost. "You know he wouldn't be much challenge anyway." Frost stayed still, and replied, "He was a good warm up. Now, why don't we move so we aren't interrupted?" Frag only nodded, and then they both slowly stepped to the side, around the pillar, away from the entrance. Eclipse could only watch, he was too shocked to move. He was about to watch the 2 greatest competitors fight in melee combat. He grew up watching the greats like Malcolm, Gorge, and of course, Xan fight. But never did he see them this close before. This was what made him want to join the tournaments. Both stood silently, regarding each other. A rocket hitting the pillar interrupted his thoughts, but at the same time, signaled the 2 champions to begin. Both blurred, and stopped in the middle, sword to sword. He reached over, and grabbed a Grenade Launcher, and the Napalm and poison grenade canisters. He looked down the entrance, and saw the 5 blue warriors attacking. He fired 6 grenades at them, and switched to Napalm grenades. 2 of them entered the short hall, and Eclipse fired all 6 shots into the hallway, turning it into a hell storm of napalm. Both screamed and thrashed, before collapsing in a heap. Switching to poison grenades, he tried to strafe over to the flag, to get the final capture, but the remaining enemies fired through the flames, making it too dangerous. They had reloaded the turrets outside, taking control of them, and making it impossible for any other team members to attack.

He peaked around the corner at Frost and Frag, and was amazed. Both were moving almost too fast to see, blocking, attacking, and countering in a fury of motion. He notices the flames started to die down, and fired the poison grenades in their place. Before the flames had disappeared, the hall was filled with the horrible corrosive, poisonous gas. He fired his CPP through the clouds, but failed to score a hit. He was out of ammo now, and his daggers were in pieces by the flag. He looked over, at the Red flag. It was so close, be could almost feel it. All he had to do was stab the stone with the flag… wait…. The Blue flag! He grabbed it from where it was held in place by the magnets on his back. As the clouds of poison cleared, the remaining 4 charged through with their melee weapons. He stepped out, and sized up the enemy. The first one, wielding a large Double Axe, charged forward. Eclipse side stepped, and used the flag to knock his enemy's right foot from under him. Twirling the flag around, he slammed the flagstaff though his neck, even as he was falling. It easily went through the soft flesh, and struck the ground beneath him. Before the body even struck the ground, he removed the flag, and deflected and axe, spinning past one of the opponents, and stabbed at another's face. The flag head, and clothe, sailed through his eye, and brain, and lanced out the back of his head. In a blur of movement, he sidestepped, as the flags momentum continued to push it out, and grabbed the flag. He finished pulling it through, and brought it around, slamming it into the side of the rear enemy's neck, on the left side. The force snapped his neck, and Eclipse pulled the flag back slightly, then stabbed again, into his left eye, and swung it to the right. The enemy's momentum kept him going left, but the Eclipse strength pulled the flag staff free, tearing out the entire left side of his skull, splattering it all over the wall next to him. He span around, and charged the first enemy, who had just turned to face him. He stabbed him in the middle of the chest, and lifted him several feel into the air. He pulled the flag back, out of him, and let him drop about a foot, before stabbing him in the throat, and jerking the flag staff back up, tearing his head from his shoulders in a shower of blood.

"Holy Shit! Ladies and Gentlemen, Eclipse is making SURE you are getting your moneys worth tonight! But times almost up! 5……"

He was next to the central pillar, and he saw the Frag and Frost and moved to the flag area. If anything, their attacks had gotten even faster, each trying to get one last kill in. Everyone knew that neither would back down, this was a matter of pride. Eclipse had to capture the flag one more time, or the match would be called a draw. He ran, determined to make it to his flag.

"4…."

He felt like he was moving through water. Frag must have seen him coming, because he took a step back for him.

"3…."

Frost stepped forward, pressing his attack on Frag, mistaking his step back as weakness. Eclipse lowered the flag like a spear. Frost looked at him, and realized his mistake a millisecond too late, even for his superhuman speed.

"2…."

The flag impaled Frost in the chest, and Eclipse lifted him off his feet, over his head, throwing him off the flag. Even as he died, he continued to fight. He threw his Katana at Eclipse, stabbing through his left thigh. Unable to continue running, he leapt with the last of his strength…

"1…."

Time slowed to a stand still. He was moving too slow! He was almost in reach of the stone, and he stabbed downward with all his might, determined to make it a win, to prove himself in this match…

In a flash of light, he blinked, and opened his eye in his pit. His entire team leapt out of their teleporters, as did blue team, to the central holo-projecter middle between the 2 pits. Both teams waited with baited breath as the computers began build the image of the last moment of the arena. Eclipse didn't feel any resistance from the flag, assuming he either missed, or didn't make it in time. As the image steadied, everyone read the score at the top…..

Red team 3, Blue team 2.

He did it! His teammates cheered, and Frag joined in congratulating him. "Damn, I can't believe I pulled that off!" exclaimed Eclipse. Frag smiled, and replied, "Oh I can. Great job!" as he slapped him on the back. Frost finished congratulating his team, and walked around to the Red side. "That was a once in a life time kill you got on me. Luckiest move you ever made…" He said with a grimace. Then he broke into a smile "Next time you won't be as lucky." Frag laughed "Hey, don't you owe me lunch now? That was the bet wasn't it?" Frost chuckled, "Yeah, yeah, whatever. You want to come to?" he said, looking at Eclipse. He stuttered for a moment, before spitting out, "Sure. Where are you guys eating?" Frag shrugged. "I dunno. Why don't you pick for me? You're the one the pulled off the win." Kara walked up beside him, smiling. "You also pulled off a "Hat Trick", and a nice "Killing Spree", and "Ultra Kill", at the end. This was a pretty high stakes match, so your next paycheck is going to come to about 65,000 credits. AND you killed Crimson Frost, so even though he killed you a half dozen times, your ratings practically doubled from that alone." He blinked "All from this one match?" Frost and Frag both laughed, "This was an A Tier special match Eclipse. The rewards are huge, compared even to what we normally make." Eclipse could just smile. Kara turned to him "I have some work to do, so I'll call you when you get another match, 'kay?" and she turned and walked off. They all went back to their pits, and removed their armor, and got cleaned up. Eclipse found Frost and Frag talking by the exit.

Frag Turned to him, and spoke "Lets get outta here. I'm starved." Eclipse followed him out to his vehicle, which was a sleek Sports hover-car. "Hop in. Frost is getting his, he'll follow us out. Did you decide where to eat yet?" And with that, Eclipse met what would turn out to be 2 of his closest friends ever.