"Man down!" - Blake

Chapter 3: Deathmatch

After he had left the prison the man from Liandri had taken Swerto be cleaned up and shopping for new clothes. After the clothes the man from Liandri took Swerto on a long trip through hyperspace to end up at an unnamed location. The man wouldn't tell Swerto where he was or where he was going. They ended up in front of a large building where Swerto couldn't see to the top of it.

The man from Liandri lead Swerto into the building and into a large glass elevator. Swerto looked around and saw nothing but retractable bulletproof glass on all sides. The Liandri man walked forward and pushed a button on the far side of the elevator and pulled a card out. He swiped the card through a slider and stepped back. He turned and handed Swerto his briefcase and began walking out.

"Wait, where are you going?" Swerto demanded.

"My business here is concluded, your future awaits at the top of this elevator, farewell Swerto." The man said and began walking in the other direction. As soon as he stepped out retractable glass lowered in his place and the elevator began to ascend at high speeds. If it weren't for the glass, however, Swerto wouldn't even know he was moving.

The elevator rose through a long black metal tube with great alacrity; the elevator became pitch black. As it passed through the tube Swerto began to feel a little uneasy, he was moving at high speeds toward an uncertain future. The elevator was full of light again as it exited the tube and abruptly stopped. The elevator groaned slightly from the sudden change in g-forces but then it was silent and the glass retracted behind Swerto.

On the other side of the glass there were large heavy bulkheads that slowly began to retract. When they were fully opened Swerto picked up the suitcase and headed in. He took the time too look around at his surroundings. He was in a large spherical room with black walls and floors. On one side was the door he just went through and the other was a large table where five people sat. In the middle of the room was a pedestal in front of a round platform. As Swerto got closer the members at the table stood up and motioned for him to move to the pedestal.

Swerto stood in front of the pedestal and saw a contract. He skimmed through it making sure he knew what he was agreeing to. The gist of it was that he was joining the tournament by his own free will and that Liandri had no responsibility for his well being, not that they would have either way. Swerto lifted a large ink pen and signed at the bottom.

"Very well, welcome to the Grand Tournament. You will be transported above where you will be introduced and then sent on your way to your first match on Earth. Good luck warrior." The middle person at the table said. He sat back down and the platform Swerto was standing on began to rise.

Swerto found himself on a crash course with his future. The ceiling opened up and Swerto found himself in a large open arena with cameras surrounding him. Swerto looked up to see an announcer pavilion where a man stood speaking to somebody next to him. Lights on the cameras turned on and the announcer began to speak.

"Well Tournament fans we have a new contestant. This man just fought his way out of an NEG penal colony, but thanks to Liandri he has been given total amnesty for his crimes against humanity. Now Tournament fans just to brighten your mood this man fought in minor leagues against none other than Malcolm, yes our rising star from Earth. I introduce to you Swerto, an elite fighter who has spent nine too many years in prison, yes that's right, we have a cold blooded murderer ready to fight and kill for your amusement. Well lets not take any more of your time while we introduce you to our next contestant." Another platform near Swerto lifted and a man wearing a military uniform raised into place.

"Well what do you know, few have fought as hard to get into the Tournament as this man folks. We introduce to you Blake! Blake has been fighting hard in the minors to get his chance to fight in the Grand Tournament, well folks lets not keep these two waiting. They have a long trip until they get to Earth. They will be Transported aboard the ITV Oblivion where…" The announcers voice trailed off as electricity surrounded the two contestants.

Swerto found himself suddenly on a large spaceship next to Blake, his future opponent. Blake stepped forward and presented his hand. "No worries, I don't kill rivals until they've got their weapons in the arena," Blake said in a cocky voice.

Swerto just stared at the hand and barked back, "Don't consider yourself my equal until you've stood up to me in the arena." Swerto turned and walked away to where he hoped his quarters would be for the remainder of the trip. A small bulkhead door opened and Swerto walked through closing it behind him. He found himself staring out a large window into space. Suddenly the stars merged together and formed a blue vortex as they jumped into hyperspace. Swerto turned and saw a man behind him.

"Who are you and what are you doing sneaking up on me?" Swerto demanded.

"Calm down there, here are your weapons, an Enforcer and an Impact Hammer, good luck warrior." The man said and then Swerto was suddenly surrounded in waves of energy again.

Swerto found himself staring into a moderate sized room with three ways in or out. He had something over his eye that he didn't before. Looking ahead of him he saw a heads up display on a small display mounted on the side of his head with a microphone going to his mouth. Swerto lifted his hand with an enforcer in it and checked the cartridge. The cartridge didn't move. He took a shot and heard it echo. Swerto looked through the room and saw three large crates, one had an pulled off and threw across the room.

Behind him Swerto heard a noise. He turned to see Blake there holding an enforcer and aiming it toward him. Swerto didn't even wait to react. Swerto lifted his enforcer and began firing. The gun shot five bullets through the air that hit Blake. He let out a groan as he fell forward dropping his weapon. Swerto walked toward him and picked up the weapon. Swerto felt a sharp pain in his back as a bullet pierced it. Swerto turned with both enforcers and aimed it at his attacker. He was shocked to see Blake again. He shot five more bullets at Blake and watched him fall forward dead again.

In that instant Swerto knew what was going on. Liandri had set a match up on the transport ship, the reason Blake reappeared after death was because this was an arena. Liandri had put into action their fast cloning technology and teleportation to create a sort of respawn. Swerto turned and ran toward the open crate. Swerto looked inside and saw a flak cannon. Swerto grabbed it and his enforces disappeared to be replaced with the flak cannon, another Liandri technological advancement.

Liandri had teleporter like technology store his weapons and pick up weapons he went over and place them into his hands, this would allow him to carry far more weapons than normal Swerto also guessed this is why the magazine on the weapon didn't detach. He looked at his side and saw a small box that had ten numbers on it. Swerto guessed there was one for each weapon.

Swerto took a look at his HUD. In the upper right corner there was a diagram of his body with a percentage of health next to it, the amount of damage he could take before his body gave up was well known and sensors probably tracked it. Along the bottom there was a row of numbers with weapons on them. In the lower right corner there was a box with a number that matched that on the ammo reader on his flak cannon. The lower left had a box that contained the number two, Swerto guessed It was the amount of kills he had.

On the row of weapons there were three spots with something in it, the first box had his impact hammer, the second his enforcer, the eighth had his flak cannon. Swerto ran out of the crate to see Blake holding an ASMD shock rifle. Blake took a shot at Swerto but went high. Swerto lifted his weapon and fired a spray of shrapnel in Blake's direction. The metal shredded Blake to pieces and left his rifle sitting there. Swerto ran forward and grabbed the ASMD. The number in the corner of his HUD turned to three and showed a spread of three above it.

Swerto switched his weapon to the ASMD shock rifle. Swerto looked at the three ways out of the room. On each end there was a ramp down to another room and in the center there was another doorway into a room with a large pillar obstructing his view. Swerto chose the furthest route to the left and ran down. Swerto found himself in a much small room with three doors again.

Blake ran through the doorway opposite the way he just came in with an ASMD shock rifle. Swerto shot an energy ball in Blake's direction. He fired an energy blast into the ball creating a shock combo that tore Blake apart. Blake's head rolled to a stop in front of Swerto with the rest of the body parts bouncing around leaving bloodstains on the ground. Swerto looked at the only other way out of the room which was a ramp slightly down to his right. As ran through the walls changed from gray to blue with the difference in lighting.

Halfway through the hallway there was another window showing outside, the other side of the hall had a large mirror. Swerto passed on to the other side where he saw Blake run over a rocket launcher and pick it up. Blake lifted the weapon and aimed it at Swerto.

Swerto ducked as two rockets flew overhead. Swerto aimed his ASMD and fired a blast into Blake pushing him into the wall behind him. Blake shot another rocket in Swerto's direction that hit the wall next to him. Swerto was pushed to the left out of the hallway into the open room. The number in the upper right corner changed to fifty as Swerto stood back up. Swerto fired again hitting Blake in the chest. Blake fell forward and stopped moving. Swerto ran over and grabbed the rocket launcher.

Swerto turned around and took the route to his right which lead up to a room he hadn't been to before. On his way up the ramp Swerto ran over a white box with a blue cross on it that sent a tingling feeling through him as the number in the corner changed to seventy.

In the large room there were also three ways in or out. In the center was that hallway that had the pedestal that obstructed his view again, and each end was another ramp out of the room. On the far end of the room there were three windows showing the space in front of them through hyperspace. On the ground there was an ASMD shock rifle and shock cores on either side. Swerto ran over the weapon and ammo and watched the ammo ticker go up to fifty.

Swerto felt a sharp pain in his back as shrapnel surrounded him. Swerto turned to see Blake with a flak cannon and pulled out his own. Swerto fired a shell at Blake that landed on head killing him. Swerto ran forward and grabbed Blake's flak cannon.

The number in the lower left corner changed to six and a message came up saying four kills left. Swerto ran through the middle hallway and found himself in the room where he started again. He saw Blake running toward the open crate and came out with a flak cannon. Swerto fired another shell at Blake and watched it blow him in half.

Swerto turned around instantly and fired again as he heard a noise behind him. Blake had spawned in the corner and had not had time to react to Swerto's attack. A message on his HUD lit up in red saying double kill. Swerto smiled and ran forward grabbing Blake's ammunition. Swerto switched to the rocket launcher and looked it over.

The rocket launcher was a large weapon that also had two firing modes. The primary fire would launch a rocket if the firing trigger was simply pressed. If you held the rocket in the direction of a target long enough you would hear a tone letting you know that you had a target lock. Firing after a target lock raised your chances of getting a kill, it was an intelligent move. The alternate fire loaded a rocket in the tube and shot it like a grenade at a target if simply pressed. The grenade would bounce around a little bit until it either hit somebody or the timer ticked to zero. If you held onto either trigger long enough the weapon could load a maximum of five rockets into the front and fire them simultaneously.

Swerto turned and loaded three grenades into the tube and fired them down one of the ramps. Swerto heard screaming and saw a confirmation message that he had killed Blake light up over the HUD. The number in the corner changed to nine.

He ran back through the middle hallway and was back in the room with the shock rifle. Swerto switched his weapon to the enforcer and was surprised to see that he had two instead of just one. He turned left and headed down to the second room he was in. He turned to the side and saw some rocket ammo and ran to pick it up. Swerto felt a sharp pain in the back of his leg again as Blake came up firing his enforcer. Swerto turned and fired both his enforcers simultaneously. Blake fell forward and slid down the ramp he was at the top of. A message over his HUD read: You are the winner.

For the first time Swerto noticed a camera hovering in front of him. Swerto walked toward it then heard the sound of a transporter behind him. Swerto turned to see a man with a large microphone that was walking toward him.

"Well congratulations on your win, Swerto. How are you feeling about the Tournament so far?" The man asked holding the microphone in Swerto's direction.

"I feel like this was too easy, next time I hope you give me a challenge." Swerto said pushing the microphone to the side.

"Wait a minute Swerto. You've survived your first match without getting fragged, how long do you think this streak can go on?"
"Until I trip and activate a rocket at my feet," Swerto joked as he turned and continued to walk away.

"Well that was Swerto, he sure does have a personality. Well this is…" His voice trailed off as Swerto continued walking. He was transported back to the upper deck where he had been before. The man that was there earlier held out his hands motioning toward Swerto's enforcers.

"No thanks, I think I'll keep them." Swerto said putting the enforcers on his belt. Swerto took the box that had been on his side off, however, and handed it to the man.

"Whatever, I suggest you take the cartridges out at least and replace them with standard ones." He said as he put the box next to him. "Oh and you can keep the headset. I can show you how to customize it however you want." He said as he motioned toward a computer near him.

Swerto took off the headset and plugged it in. The man pushed a few buttons and the HUD showed up on the screen with a window next to it containing a bunch of parameters.

"We can customize everything on it from what is on it to the color of the specific things. Now are you satisfied with what is on there?" The man asked as he pointed to the screen.

"Well the HUD could be smaller and be white instead of blue, I never liked blue. White will also be easier to read in dark areas. Also is there a way to get a crosshair from my weapons to show up on the HUD?" Swerto asked.

"As a matter of fact, there is. I'll set it up for you real quick," The man said as he hit a few buttons on the keyboard. The HUD got smaller and changed to white. In the center there appeared a small cross. The man unhooked it and put it onto Swerto's head. "Go ahead test it out, move the weapon side to side and the crosshair will move with it. Now you can shoot accurately without having the weapon up to your eye."

"Good, how long until we reach Earth?" Swerto asked.

"We'll be there in a couple of hours. I'll leave you here, these will be your quarters until we arrive." The man said as he turned and walked toward the bulkhead door. He hit a switch and the door shot open. The man walked out and closed the door behind him.