Story and Art by Moonskysunner
Edited by Rex
Additional Writing, Editing and cover art by AzureMenace
Prologue
Rain pattered softly against the structure of the arena on Vespaara, each drop shimmering under the ethereal glow of the ever-present aurora lights. The sky above was painted in malevolent crimson and purple as if the eyes from the heavens were looking down on those below—a celestial audience anticipating what was about to unfold.
Out of the shadow stepped a mysterious masked figure, clad in black robes of the finest Sleedaran silk, his face shrouded.
The figure marched by the shops lined along the street, noticing that the usual clamor of the crowd had died down and been replaced with an uneasy silence. The hologram displays of the merchandise and the loud neon signs of the vendors flickered, dimming as the mysterious individual approached them.
A moment ago, children were playing, merchants were talking to their customers, cartel members whispering among themselves, hotheaded teenagers arguing with each other—but now, only silence—dead, deafening silence.
At last, the cloaked figure arrived at the gates to the arena—and from under the mask, he formed a twisted, maniacal smile.
Under the watchful gaze of the auroras, Vespaara held its breath because everyone knew that the game had now changed forever.
Chapter 1: An Adventure Begins
Sprocket's eyes opened, and he could see the rising twin suns from his bedroom window. This was part of the reason why he insisted on this room. He yawned and filled his cup with a warm, soothing tea (Balada wanted every Hunter to have an energetic start to the day—that's why she installed the Ardee beverage system next to every Hunter's bed). The sun's light cast onto the blueprints sitting on Sprocket's desk, which were still unfinished.
The young Mon Calamari climbed out of bed and placed his cup into a sink. He walked past a picture of his 5-year-old self holding the hands of his mother and father. Sprocket recalled that he had not spoken to his parents for a long time, and he began to feel a pang of sadness. He shook this feeling away quickly and hopped back onto his bed, staring at a poster of the infamous bounty hunter, Imara Vex. He allowed himself to bask in a small moment of peace and silence until he was interrupted by a knock on the door.
"Mr. Hale would like to see you," a voice called.
Sprocket panicked as soon as he heard that name, immediately scrambling to grab all his supplies as he rolled up his Arena map designs. He ran out of the room, only stopping briefly to wave to J-3DI. He hurried along to the head architect's office, and he silently wondered why he had been called upon.
Mr. Hale was waiting for him when he entered the room. He was sitting on his chair with a blank expression etched across his face. It seemed as though he was expecting something, or at the very least, pondering something. That's when it dawned on Sprocket:
He hadn't finished his blueprints.
Last night he stayed up late watching the new Wookie Warriors Holodrama (it was awesome). He stood on the white marble floor of the arena architect's office and decided to try and make the most out of the materials he had brought with him.
Sprocket turned on the holograms of the design and projected a rough blueprint of the map. "I added some changes that will prove more challenging to the Hunters and more entertaining to the viewers," he started. "I put some traps around this area and a small gate about yay-high here," he explained while gesturing at the holographic display.
"More extreme and dangerous, like you said," Sprocket kept on going, trying to mask his nervousness. "So, what do you think?" he asked, holding his Holopad tightly as he watched the architect tap his finger on the desk.
"Like it? I love it!" Hale the Quarren exclaimed as he walked towards Sprocket. "The Hutts are gonna love it—and it will bring more audiences in to watch the show!"
Sprocket felt relief wash over him. He had made Hale happy once again. Yet, there was still one thought lingering in his mind that he had to get out. "Mr. Hale… I'm thinking of joining the competition. I would have talked to Daq… but he's on vacation. I've got loads of exciting weapons to show off! And I'd love to meet all of the cool Hunters!" Sprocket beamed, looking at him with a hopeful smile and wide eyes.
Hale appeared shocked at first, but he quickly discarded the look. "Alright. Daq did tell me this over the hologram message. I suppose J-3DI and old Amos would've wanted you to join," he admitted. "But I have to warn you, this game might be rough for a kid like you," Hale warned, a dark look in his eyes.
Sprocket met his unwavering gaze, feeling a surge of confidence bolt through him. "I can handle it. I promise," he told Hale.
"Alright, would you like to join the next round of Huttball with your map design?" Hale questioned momentarily.
Sprocket nodded with excitement, beginning to feel eager about joining the tournament—until a thought popped into his head: Oh Calamari… I'm competing on my map with all those dangerous traps I designed, he recalled uneasily, but it's no biggie; I can win this.
The Quarren pulled up the screen with Sprocket's premade team listed on it. "Here's your team lineup for next week, kid."
Sprocket glanced at the list and began to feel nervousness crawl through his skin. I hope I made the right choice by joining the competition, he thought as he began to read the names of the Hunters that had been assigned to his team. Don't be silly; how hard could this thing be?
The following morning, Sprocket waited patiently outside of Hale's office while Rieve (who's arena persona is a Sith Assassin) walked in somewhat angrily. Sprocket could hear the conversation from where he was—Rieve's yelling made it quite easy.
"Are you kidding me? You assigned me with a kid and that bucket of bolts, J-3DI? You're telling me you're allowing kids to sign up as Hunters now?" Rieve's voice was unmistakably seething with anger and hatred.
Sprocket felt somewhat hurt by her comments, but he decided to simply ignore them, telling himself Rieve was just in a poor mood. After all, he was a big fan of her, and he did want to make a good impression of himself. I'll prove that I'm more than just a kid!
"I make exceptions, and I think he deserves a chance. Why not try to get to know Sprocket better?" Hale asked calmly, seemingly unshaken by Rieve's violent temper.
Rieve walked out of the office and kicked at the wall in frustration. Sprocket shook his head as J-3DI came up beside him and tilted his head curiously, seeming to wonder what Rieve was doing.
"Hello, I'm Sprocket, and this is my friend J-3DI," Sprocket said as he walked over to the assassin. "I'm a huge fan of yours, and I'm so excited to participate in the Arena together!" he added with a smile.
"This is whom I was telling you about the other day, my dear dark side friend. This is the one who made me!" exclaimed J-3DI, who appeared to be buzzing with life.
Sprocket noticed that J-3DI's jovial mood only seemed to anger Rieve even more. He silently wondered if the Sith Assassin would snap and do something impulsive. The look in Rieve's intense purple eyes was something he had never seen before: frustration, anger—and deep, immeasurable hatred.
Rieve took a breath, seemingly calming herself down, and the look began to fade slightly, but Sprocket was sure he could see it lingering in the depths of her eyes. He shuddered, feeling somewhat relieved that she had made an effort to calm herself down.
As Sprocket turned away, the Wookie Warrior, Grozz, showed up momentarily, seemingly wanting to greet his new team. Grozz lumbered towards Sprocket, and J-3DI and Sprocket wondered if Grozz realized how big he was. Luckily, someone held him back so that Sprocket and his companion weren't crushed to death.
Sprocket glanced up to see that it was Zaina, the Rebel War Hero, and he found himself giving her a thankful nod.
Rieve stormed up beside Sprocket and rolled her eyes as if her mood was about to get even worse. Sprocket didn't know if that was possible.
"Good luck!" Zaina said cheerfully.
"How about we get a drink or play a game of Holochess?" Sprocket suggested with a glance at the group of Hunters.
As much as it seemed like Rieve wanted to say no, she gave a defeated sigh. "Sure kid," she grumbled, "saying no would be like trying to stop a charging Mudhorn anyway," she added with a grunt.
Grozz seemed super excited all of a sudden, casting fleeting glances at a drink stand. Sprocket recalled something about a new drink that consisted of blue milk with colorful pearls inside of it. Perhaps that was what had Grozz so enthusiastic.
The Wookie bellowed something that Sprocket wasn't sure he understood.
Zaina stepped up next to her friend. "Sounds like he wanted to try out something new," she translated, confirming Sprocket's thoughts.
"I heard there's a new drink," Sprocket replied. "Why don't we go try it out?"
The Hunters all nodded their agreement and headed over to the new drink stand. Grozz ordered the blue milk drink, as did the others. Rieve, of course, objected to trying it and instead got a Dantooine Ice Twist.
Sprocket surveyed the area around them and caught sight of Aran Tal, the Mandalorian Vanguard, standing across the shop, giving them a thumbs down. Sprocket recalled that Aran was always boasting about his victories and that he and Rieve didn't get along very well.
Rieve looked as if she were trying to maintain her cool, and she appeared to be attempting to ignore Aran. Sprocket admired her for that, but he figured it wouldn't last very long.
Although he wanted to maintain a friendship with Rieve, he did have to admit that he was a fan of Aran. He was probably a bigger fan of his than he was of Rieve. At least Aran seemed to be able to maintain a cool composure, unlike the Sith Assassin.
"Huttball is just the Hutts' bastardization of the great Mand'o'a sport," Rieve mumbled. It seemed like she was mocking Aran—just not to his shrugged and decided to go over to Aran, grabbing a poster of the Mandalorian in his prized armor. "Sir! I'm your biggest fan! Can I have your autograph?" he asked.
Aran Tal signed the poster. "Of course you can! I'm the best and number one hunter of all time!" he exclaimed. "And then there's Rieve, who always comes in second place," he taunted.
Sprocket recalled that a fake Sith was just like a Jedi, an enemy of the great Mandalorians—and that's likely what caused the conflict between the two. He didn't want to get involved, so he simply stepped back as Rieve and the others approached Aran.
"What's the matter, Rieve, got nothing to say?" Aran mocked.
At that moment, Rieve completely snapped.
She used the force to throw drinks at Aran Tal, seemingly wanting to shut him up. Imara, who is watching from afar, is seemingly amused by this. Another Hunter that has a feud with Aran, Sprocket recalled.
The drinks splattered all over Aran's helmet and Beskar armor. The Mandalorian looked at Rieve and furiously punched her across the nose.
J-3DI quickly pulled Rieve away from Aran Tal. "Control yourself, young padawan," he advised as Rieve held her nose in pain.
It seemed to Sprocket like Rieve and Aran Tal gladly would've kept fighting, but the sound of the guards drawing near vanquished any such thoughts.
"Save it for the Arena, you two," one of the guards grumbled.
"That buckethead is lucky that I can't hurt him through his Beskar armor," Rieve mumbled as the guards walked away.
Aran Tal huffed. "Now I've got to get this armor cleaned up," he muttered angrily, storming away to find a place to do so.
Sprocket realized that Rieve looked somewhat tired and quite upset. "Are you okay?" he checked.
Rieve looked at him with surprise, as if she hadn't heard those words in some time. She clutched her head momentarily before looking down at her hands, which Sprocket noticed were shaking violently.
He decided to offer her another drink to try and calm her nerves. "I have a plan to share; let's come to my place."
J-3DI gave a steady nod. "Wise choice; a Jedi always comes prepared," he mused.
The Mudhorn team gathered at Sprocket's medium-sized apartment shortly after. Sprocket noticed Rieve glancing around at the mess that he had left in his living room, which mainly consisted of lab work and designs.
"Sorry about the mess; I rarely have guests over," Sprocket apologized.
He and J-3DI immediately got to work and began to clean up the mess. Sprocket put his designs away while J-3DI handled the rest of the lab work. They eventually cleaned everything up, which made Rieve seemingly a bit more comfortable.
The young Mon Calamari rolled out a copy of his map design and drew out the plan. "Okay, here's the plan: Grozz stays at our Huttball goal to defend it, Rieve will distract Aran Tal, and J-3DI and I are going to run with the huttball at all times," Sprocket informed them. "I've calculated a perfect angle to throw the ball past Slingshot. As long as we stay on this side of the map and Grozz keeps Zaina busy, we can definitely win this thing."
The Mudhorns nodded at the plan, looking at the map to try and better understand what they would be doing.
Sprocket continued, "Now, Rieve, I want you to stop Diago from shooting us from the top—so you should jump up from here."
Rieve seemed doubtful. "No offense, kid, but I'm the fastest person on the team, and I can get to the goal quickly. Shouldn't I run with the ball?"
Sprocket shook his head. He knew the game better than anyone here. He had watched it from the beginning, and he was certain that his plan was going to work. "You may be fast, but you lose because you get shot right before you get a chance to score… every year."
Rieve seemed taken aback by this comment, appearing somewhat impressed by Sprocket's knowledge of the game. "Alright, I'll follow your plan… regardless if I think it's going to work or not."
Grozz mumbled something, appearing unbothered by his role in the game. Sprocket remembered that he was usually always defending the goal anyway, so he figured the Wookie was the one that was in the most agreement with the plan.
"What's your weapon, kid?" Rieve questioned as she looked at Sprocket.
"It's going to be a surprise," Sprocket said cheekily.
Sprocket spent the rest of the night lecturing his team about the enemies they were going to be facing. He had knowledge on every single Hunter, as he had spent most of his time here reading up on each and every one of them. They were going up against Aran Tal, Slingshot, Zaina, and Diago.
It was a team that would certainly pose some challenges for them, but Sprocket was confident in his own team—and he was confident that his plan would work. He warned his companions about the strengths of each Hunter and made sure to thoroughly go through what not to do against them. Of course, he also made sure they were well aware of all of their weaknesses, as well as their play styles.
By the time he was finished reciting everything he knew, Rieve and Grozz had fallen fast asleep, leaving him and his loyal companion, J-3DI, as the only ones awake. Sprocket sighed and nodded to J-3DI, signaling for him to wake the two up. Grozz grumbled as J-3DI woke him up, appearing as though he had been in a deep sleep. Rieve stumbled to her feet, seeming even more tired than usual.
"We should go, Grozz," Rieve muttered as she began to make her way out of Sprocket's apartment. The Wookie Warrior followed suit, lumbering after Rieve and exiting the apartment as well.
J-3DI plugged himself in as soon as the others left and began to charge himself for the morning.
"Good night, J-3DI," Sprocket whispered as he turned off the lights.
"Good night, master," J-3DI replied as Sprocket began to drift to sleep.
He began to think about the upcoming battle the next day as he dozed off. My first battle, he recalled to himself eagerly. Although Sprocket couldn't wait to get into the Arena, there was a sense of uneasiness that sat in the pit of his stomach. He couldn't help but feel nervous about fighting, despite all of his earlier enthusiasm. You've got nothing to worry about, Sprocket. It'll be fine, he told himself firmly as he slowly fell asleep.
Chapter 2: Go Huttball Go!
The stormy skies above Vespaara rumbled, the thunder rolling like a distant drumbeat. Flickers of lightning split the heavens, casting fleeting, ghostly shadows across the massive arena. The air was thick with the scent of ozone and the distant tang of wet metal. The crowd's murmur buzzed like static all around, their anticipation palpable.
The Mudhorn team prepared for the match in their Hunter suite. Sprocket opened a metal box to show off his weapon: a command chair with all of his equipment and bots.
The Hunters appeared quite impressed with Sprocket. Rieve, on the other hand, appeared to remain quite worried about something—perhaps about how Aran Tal was going to react about yesterday. Sprocket figured she had a good reason for being worried. It was Aran Tal, after all. And that meant he was going to burn everything he possibly could with his flamethrowers.
Sprocket's fingers fidgeted on the edge of his control pad, the weight of the team's expectations suddenly heavy on his shoulders. His heart began to pound in his chest—but he couldn't let them see his nervousness or his doubt. No, he had to show them he belonged, no matter what it cost.
Aran Tal bounded around the corner, locking eyes with Rieve. "I'm not holding anything back after what you did yesterday!" he yelled.
Rieve, who had a bandage on her nose from their feud, looked unamused. "Good luck, you're gonna need it!" she shouted back.
Slingshot, who was standing next to Aran Tal, gave the opposing team a wink.
However, Zaina, who was now standing beside Sprocket, whispered some encouragement to him. "Good luck, just try your best," she told him with a smile.
Sprocket gave a small nod to her as the Gundarks began to walk away.
He thought about his first competition at his private school for the gifted Mon Calamari that his parents had sent him to. He remembered how he stayed up all night to finish his project, and he felt a surge of determination flow through him. This was no different. He was going to prove himself, one way or the other.
He was nervous and excited all at the same time, something he wasn't sure he had experienced before—at least not quite like this. Sprocket wanted to impress the judges, but most of all, he wanted to impress the recruiter with his Arena designs. He felt like everything had led up to this very moment; everything had been leading to this moment. Here we go, he thought as the lights started blaring down on the Mudhorns.
"Hunters! Welcome to the Arena!" the announcer shouted, sending chills through Sprocket's entire body.
Across from them, the Gundarks sat in their suite, awaiting to be released. Sprocket could feel his nerves building up as the clock ticked down to the starting time. The doors slowly opened, allowing for each team to set up their goal point as the time neared for the battle to begin.
Aran Tal flew his way onto the battleground, his jetpack spewing colorful flames. Dizzy burst out of the spawn area not far behind him, quickly catching up to his teammate. Zaina readied the bombs on her belt while Diago found a convenient spot for sniping.
Meanwhile, Sprocket put his helmet on and set up his drones. He noticed Rieve eyeing the drones, but she quickly turned her attention back to Tal. Grozz, as per usual, gave out his warrior roar as he held his robot arms as his weapon. J-3DI spun his head around with excitement.
"Ready… Set… GO!" the lady droid announcer yelled.
Sprocket sprung to life as he heard those words, hurrying towards the middle where the Huttball would be. The ball arrived in the middle, as anticipated, and Sprocket reached it momentarily, attempting to grab it. Before he could react, Zaina jumped in quickly and grabbed the ball, leaping over Sprocket's head without breaking a sweat.
Sprocket sent out his tracking bot, which confused Zaina by following her around. She sees Grozz standing at the goal though, awaiting her arrival and ready to intercept the ball. Zaina quickly dodged to the side as Grozz swiped at her, and she threw the ball high up in the air. Grozz attempted to catch the ball, but J-3DI caught the ball instead.
J-3DI ran away with the ball. "The Force is with me," he mumbled.
Sprocket ran after his friend, glancing over to see that Aran Tal was busy trying to shoot flames at Rieve with his flamethrowers. Rieve was seemingly focused on fighting Tal until she took notice of Diago shooting at J-3DI as he tried to carry the ball. Rieve pushed Aran away and dashed over to help J-3DI, using her force jump to try and reach Diago.
Sprocket followed J-3DI with the Huttball while Zaina desperately tried to get the ball back. He looked over his shoulder and saw Grozz throwing a rock at Zaina to knock her out for a short time.
J-3DI glanced up to see shooting from above, and Sprocket quickly sent out his defense drone for protection.
Diago focused his aim on Sprocket now, since he knew that once he got taken down, Slingshot would be unstoppable and could steal the ball from the oblivious J-3DI. It was a perfect plan—until it was ruined by Rieve, who had found Diago in the corner. Sprocket watched as she furiously knocked him out cold.
As Sprocket and J-3DI reached the goal, they found Slingshot standing there, getting ready to run over them with his Droideka. "What are you going to do, oh powerful 'Jedi'?" Dizzy taunted.
J-3DI laughed. "Simple! I'm going to pass the ball to my master!"
Slingshot seemed to be confused by this as he watched J-3DI toss the Huttball over to his blind side, where Sprocket had moved to better position himself. Sprocket caught the ball before Slingshot could react and tossed it into the goal.
"Score one for the Mudhorns!" the announcer shouted.
Aran Tal started throwing around objects, appearing to be frustrated with allowing the first goal. Sprocket smiled to himself, realizing he outplayed the other team. It's not over yet, he recalled as he glanced away from Tal.
Both teams take a quick break, heading back to their starting points. The Mudhorns do a quick celebration—with the exception being Rieve, of course. Sprocket noticed that the Sith Assassin looked somewhat worried, and he couldn't help but feel some worry too—as they still had more to go.
"It's not over until the time runs out," Rieve reminded them, echoing Sprocket's thoughts.
The groups were then ready for round two.
However this time, Slingshot got the huttball first, with Diago covering him. Sprocket was very confused by what they were doing, and he realized he didn't know what their plan was. Diago shot his drones away from J-3DI, and Aran pushed the droid into the wall. Sprocket took a panicked glance over at Rieve, who was being kept busy by Zaina as the Rebel War Hero easily dodged her saber swings.
Dizzy and Diago were finally near the goal that Grozz was defending. Sprocket watched helplessly, realizing he was now too far away to help. All he can do is hope that Grozz can stop the pair from scoring. Grozz lumbered forward and grabbed a hold of Dizzy's Droideka, but it didn't stop him from passing the Huttball to Diago.
Diego tossed the ball into the goal. "For my son and daughter!" he shouted as the ball went in.
The crowd roared as the announcer yelled, "Score one for the Gundarks!"
Sprocket can't believe he let that happen. He began to feel confused and upset at the same time, wondering why his plan failed to work. I gotta think of something else, he realized as he and his companions went back to the starting point.
Aran Tal laughed at him from afar. "I know what you're thinking, kid! Gotta change the plan now!" he taunted as he flew back to the Gundark starting point.
Sprocket was somewhat surprised at the Mandalorian's remark, yet he knew that Aran Tal had a lot of experiences with Huttball. Don't forget, you designed this map yourself! Sprocket realized that he hadn't utilized the most important advantage he could ever have:
He designed this map.
He knew how it worked, how to get around the traps—and he knew that the other Hunters didn't know nearly as much about the map as he did. Sprocket began to form a new plan, but he would need his team to agree to it. The gifted Mon Calamari got to work on repairing his defense bot as the clock began to count down for the next round to start.
Rieve's eyes flicked to the scoreboard as she clenched her fists. "We're not getting anywhere like this," she snapped, unable to keep the edge out of her voice. "If we don't pull it together, we're done for."
Sprocket spoke softly, "I've got a plan, but you have to trust me."
The Mudhorns looked at each other before leaning in to hear what plan Sprocket had come up with. As Sprocket explained it to them, the time began to tick away. It was nearing time for the next round. Sprocket finished telling them the plan just as their break time ran out—and just like that, the next round had started.
This time Aran Tal got to the ball first, but it was quickly stolen by J-3DI, who in turn gave it to Sprocket. Sprocket hurried ahead in his chair, with Grozz following him not too far behind. Sprocket looked back briefly to see that J-3DI and Rieve were now fighting Zaina and Diago, and he hoped they would be able to hold them off long enough for him to get to the goal.
Slingshot approached Sprocket, but Grozz lunged forward and shoved him out of the way. He stood in front of Dizzy, making sure he couldn't go anywhere or do anything to interfere with Sprocket.
Sprocket kept running with the ball on his command chair as he headed toward the goal.
Aran Tal landed next to him and grinned. "I thought you were smart, kid. You know I can steal it back from you, right?" he asked.
Sprocket didn't respond. Instead, he hurried over to the nearby jump pad and launched himself away from Tal. He looked back to see that Aran was slightly confused for a moment before the Mandalorian simply went onto the jump pad and did the same thing.
The Mon Calamari quickly led the Mandalorian over to the electrical fence, hoping that his plan would work.
"I don't know why you're running to a dangerous spot, kid," Aran sneered.
Sprocket figured that he knew about the fence, but he had no other options. He ran to the electrical fence that was powered off and waited for Tal to make his move. As Aran Tal went past the fence, he got electrocuted, just as Sprocket intended.
"You may have known about the fence, but I knew when it was going to activate!" Sprocket called as he headed to the goal.
The young Mon Calamari saw the goal opening and realized he was on his own, as Grozz was still busy with Slingshot. As he got closer to the goal, Diago aimed his gun at Sprocket's chair instead of J-3DI. Sprocket looked up and saw all too late that Diago had a lock on him. He wouldn't! Sprocket thought in panic.
But Diago pulled the trigger despite Rieve's attempt to pull him away with the force. The bullet traveled towards Sprocket, but thankfully, his defense drone took care of it. Sprocket sighed with relief as he approached the goal. He realized that time had almost run out, and he quickly tossed the ball into the goal.
"Mudhorns win!" the announcer cheered.
The audience burst to life as Aran Tal screamed in agony; Sprocket realized that this was the first time the Mandalorian had lost in the Arena.
"We did it!" Rieve exclaimed. "I only wish I had been the one to deliver the final blow against that buckethead!" she added with a hint of spite as the Mudhorns began to exit the Arena.
Grozz held Sprocket up to his shoulders as everyone began to celebrate. Sprocket felt a surge of happiness as he sat atop the Wookie Warrior, realizing that he actually won. I can't believe it! My plan worked! he thought happily as his teammates, along with Zaina and Diago, gathered around him. Aran Tal and Slingshot are absent from the celebrations, of course.
Aran Tal was sitting in the corner, seemingly having his ego shattered by the Mon Calamari—and Sprocket realized that he had ruined his title of Mandalorian. Sprocket began to feel some pity for him, but he shook it away quickly as he told himself that this was his moment, not Tal's.
Sprocket and the others headed to the other side of the Arena, where Charr, Skora, K-A0S, and Sentinel were awaiting their arrival.
"Guess I'm having calamari for dinner." Sprocket barely caught what Charr said, but he shrugged it off, reminding himself that right now he should be celebrating.
Sprocket's team departed to hang out in the open field outside of the Arena.
Rieve turned to J-3DI as they arrived. "Could you teach me how to better wield the force?" The question caught Sprocket by surprise, but he figured that if there is anyone who could teach her about the force, it would be J-3DI. Despite not actually being a force wielder, Sprocket's droid knew all there was needed to about it.
"I believe the force is strong with you, but it must be controlled," J-3DI told her gently as he began to go into a meditation pose.
Sprocket joined J-3DI in his meditation session, as did Rieve, who seemed confused at first but nonetheless joined in.
"Why does a droid need relaxation?" Rieve asked as the group meditated.
Grozz muttered for her to be quiet—as he was trying to meditate too.
J-3DI ignored her question. "Remember all of the happiest moments of your life; let the feelings of worry and stress be removed from your mind," he instructed.
Rieve mumbled something that Sprocket didn't catch, and he figured she thought this whole idea was ridiculous; however, he knew that it did work. He'd meditated many times with his droid companion, and it really did relieve any feelings of stress or worry. Of course, Sprocket wasn't a force wielder, but that didn't mean he couldn't enjoy the solitude of meditation.
Sprocket opened his eyes a bit to see what was going on around him. He watched as Rieve began to lift rocks from the ground around her, and J-3DI took notice of this, seeming somewhat fascinated. It felt so odd to watch something like that—and yet Sprocket felt as though he couldn't look away. As she lifted more rocks, he silently giggled to himself and scribbled it on his Holopad.
J-3DI took notice that Sprocket had stopped meditating. "No peeking, until I say it's over—a true Jedi must have patience."
Then suddenly, Rieve began to lift up larger rocks and boulders; her face wrinkled in some kind of distress as she seemingly remembered something. She was mumbling something about someone calling her a monster, and the wind suddenly began to howl as more objects started to levitate around Sprocket and the others.
"Oh, wow!" Sprocket exclaimed, not quite sure what to say.
Grozz let out surprised bellows as well, glancing around frantically as Rieve started to lift him up.
"Session is over! You may stop now!" J-3DI yelled.
Rieve didn't seem to hear him, or she's wrapped up in whatever thoughts she's having. Sprocket began to feel fear creep into his stomach. What if she can't stop?
Before he could say anything, a drop of liquid landed on Rieve's face, and she began to put everything back down. Whatever the liquid was, it seemed to soothe her. Sprocket curiously looked around, wondering where the mysterious liquid had come from.
"That's an old Rodian solution for anxiety; do you like it?" Skora's voice sounded from behind Rieve, and Sprocket realized that she'd been hiding in a tree the whole time.
"Why are you here?" Sprocket asked..
Skora jumped down from the tree, looking somewhat saddened. "After my husband passed away while doing business for the cartel when we lived on Tatooine, I decided to take my children with me and move us somewhere safer," she began hesitantly, "but well, as you might expect, being an underground medic isn't a really good career if you want to have children, so I came here."
Skora took a deep breath, her voice steadying as she continued, "I came here hoping to find a fresh start—somewhere where my kids could grow up without looking over their shoulders. But it's hard to shake off the past, you know? So, I thought maybe I could find some friends in the arena.
"I mean, if there's anyone who could understand what I feel, who understands the need for survival, who might look out for each other in a galaxy like this, it has to be you guys, Skora told them, offering a small, tentative smile. "I'm not here just to patch people up; I'm here to find allies to build something better for my sons—and maybe for myself, too."
Grozz, who had tears in his eyes, mumbled something inaudible.
J-3DI translated, "Of course I want to be your friend. Listening to your stories makes me want to cry. I came to the Arena to prove to my parents and my tribe that I'm a tough Wookie warrior. I will gladly be your friend."
Sprocket stood there, quite shocked and sad. "I didn't know you had kids," he muttered.
"They are safe with my sister, but I miss them so much," Skora admitted. "I feel a bit lonely; would you like to come for dinner?"
The group agreed to follow Skora to her apartment.
Chapter 3: Skora
The Mudhorns entered Skora's apartment. It was surprisingly much cleaner and far more organized than Sprocket's.
Grozz grumbled something as he seemed to admire the cute family photo of Skora and her sons.
Sprocket took a quick look at the photo that Grozz was holding. "Your sons are so beautiful. That one clearly has your eyes, and the other one has a cool haircut," he told her.
Skora claimed the photo back from Grozz. "Thank you, but please don't touch anything."
Sprocket shrugged and decided to survey the rest of the room. He found himself looking at test tubes and various lab reports, which peaked his interest. He noticed Skora's lab coat hanging next to the equipment, as well as some poisons that were seemingly for her gun and her healing power.
Skora slapped Scrocket's hands when he reached out to touch the tubes. "No touching," she reminded him.
Sprocket heard Grozz's stomach growling, and he realized that none of them had eaten anything after their big match. The others seemed to come to that realization as well.
"Let me make some dinner for everyone," Skora said calmly.
"We can help," Sprocket offered, glancing back at the others, who gave nods of agreement.
Sprocket, Grozz, and Rieve began to help Skora with the cooking. They fetched ingredients from each of their apartments to use, while Skora started to tell them about her life. She explained how she hadn't been this happy in some time and that this moment brought her back to a time where her family had a peaceful and perfect life. She told them about how it all started out as a simple life, with her boys having just been born.
"They were always smiling and always so happy to see my husband come home for dinner," Skora said as they continued to cook. "And even when I was struggling with my new job, they always tried to cheer me up."
Sprocket listened carefully as they prepared the dinner, beginning to feel even more pity for the rodian. It seemed as though she seemingly had a perfect life until she had been drawn to the Arena and separated from her family.
Skora continued on, explaining how there was a day when one of her sons got sick and how she had to try to create a cure for his rare disease. After several tests, she was able to find a cure for him. "He gave me a big hug," Skora recited sadly. "The last time I saw them, they told me we love you, Mom, you're awesome! We can't believe you're a star in the Arena now!" She told the last part with a hint of sadness, as if she was missing her sons a great deal.
"And they couldn't stay here with you because of the rules, right?" Sprocket asked as the group began to finish up dinner.
"That's right," Skora replied. "I wish I didn't have to leave them."
"It'll be okay," Sprocket assured her as dinner was finally done.
Everyone had their own dish, which was a relief because Sprocket hadn't realized how hungry he was. He sat down with his friends and put his plate in front of him; however, Skora reached over and sprinkled something onto Sprocket's dish before he could dig in. He glanced at her curiously.
Skora gave him a nod. "Try it."
Sprocket took a bite and instantly felt his taste buds bursting with flavor. "It's delicious!" he exclaimed.
"So, do your parents visit you at all?" Skora asked.
Sprocket avoided meeting Skora's gaze, not quite sure how to answer that question. His parents were a touchy subject for him. He stuffed some food in his mouth to try and cover up how he really felt about the question. "Sometimes," he lied.
Skora looked at him knowingly, but before she could reply, a call came in from Hale. Hale wanted to see Sprocket about something. He sighed with relief and stood up from the table. "Excuse me, I'll be right back."
He walked out of Skora's apartment and slightly down the hall to the left. Sprocket pulled out a Holocom momentarily, and Hale appeared on it.
Hale began to explain how the Hutts weren't happy when they read reviews online. There were mixed reviews, but mostly all of the negative stories had attracted more viewers to the show. It had made even more money when the viewers heard about a child joining the hunting game for the first time, which was good news for Sprocket.
Although he found himself becoming slightly nervous at the thought that his parents might see the news. Then again, he knew that they were probably too busy with their jobs to watch any broadcasts these days.
"Keep up with the good work," Hale told him and closed the call.
Sprocket sighed and put the holocron away, beginning to make his way back towards Skora's apartment. He walked inside and surveyed the room, spotting Rieve trying to relax on the sofa. He kept his head low and headed over to the balcony, standing there silently as he looked outside. He didn't know why, but he felt more sad and alone than he had ever been in his life.
"What's wrong?" He turned to see Rieve standing behind him, her usually angry purple eyes somewhat concerned.
"Read what people said about me," Sprocket replied.
"Don't worry about it. I'm sure people will change their minds about you," Rieve assured him.
Sprocket drew in a breath, knowing he would never be able to change what people thought of his species. All of the negative comments about him made him think back to his father. He had wanted Sprocket to build the best possible shuttle that he could, as he had told Sprocket that this was the best way for a Mon Calamari to make business in the galaxy.
But Sprocket never wanted to build a shuttle.
No, he wanted to join the Arena and become a hunter. His father thought that he was rather ludicrous for wanting to join the Arena and he insisted that Sprocket should pursue building his own shuttles. He recalled the last time he had spoken to his father and what his father had said to him: You will understand when you've grown up.
Rieve looked at Sprocket. "Come on," she told him.
She headed back to the living room next to Skora's lab, and Sprocket followed suit. Sprocket found himself looking at Skora's lab equipment, still somewhat curious about Skora's formula for healing allies. As much as he wanted to copy the formula, he figured he should check with Skora first.
"I'm curious, what's your formula for healing your allies?" Sprocket asked as Skora, Grozz, and J-3DI washed the dishes.
Skora seemed to have no problem sharing her formula, since Sprocket recalled she loved bragging about her discovery. "Here are the notes."
Sprocket tried to read the Rodian language on the notes, but all he understood were the elemental tables. Meanwhile, J-3DI took some pictures of the lab and the equipment as Sprocket observed the tables on the notes. He figured he could have J-3DI translate the Rodian if he really needed to read what Skora had written.
"Thank you. I was working on a bot that can help heal my teammates. I need to create the strongest healing power possible," Sprocket admitted, deciding to be honest with his intentions.
"Okay, let me know if that works," Skora replied.
Grozz screamed suddenly, and Sprocket turned to see that while Grozz was trying to cook his traditional Wookie desserts, he had given himself a third-degree burn. He immediately started sobbing in pain.
Sprocket quickly used Skora's Bacta formula to heal his burns, testing to see how it worked. The formula relieved the burn and the scar in a few seconds. Grozz was very pleased with this and let out a howl to acknowledge that. He mumbled something else that Sprocket didn't understand.
J-3DI stepped in and translated, "He asks, do you want to stay for dessert?"
Sprocket pondered this for a second, until J-3DI reminded him of his bedtime. Rieve admitted that she was a bit tired too. Sprocket and the others began to depart momentarily, and he looked back to catch Skora waving to them as they did so. He waved back in turn, giving the Rodian a smile.
As Sprocket went back to his apartment, he began to realize how tired he truly is. With that in mind, he heads straight to bed. He enjoyed a great dinner tonight with Skora and the others. As he tried to fall asleep, he felt some stress and began to hear distant voices in his head. Though there's too many voices and images for him to understand—and all it did was make him feel more stressed.
Abruptly, he began to nod off, and he started to dream about meeting an old man in an office.
"Hello, Sprocket. It's nice to see you again," the man said.
Sprocket embraced him. "I'm so glad to see you. You should see what I've become! I'm a Hunter in the Arena—and I've won my first game!"
He continued to lose himself in the dream, unsure of what was reality and what wasn't. As he started to fade into slumber, he began to think about the Arena and what his parents would think of him if they saw what he was doing. Would they even care? he wondered as he slowly faded into sleep.
Chapter 4: Dynamic Control
After the group found out the news about their matchmaking and the new gamemode, Sprocket was not particularly pleased to learn he was paired against Skora, especially after she had made everyone dinner last night and told them what she had been through. The matchmakers always seemed to separate the healers.
Sprocket heard Charr grumble something indignantly, perhaps about how he'd rather not have a child on his team. Sprocket sighed, realizing not much had changed. Beside him, Rieve giggled, and he figured it was because she had been skeptical of having him on her team as well.
Sprocket was excited to be on the same team with some of the most skilled Hunters ever. His new team consisted of the talented Ugnaught mechanic Dizzy, the infamous Trandoshan hunter Charr, and the legendary bounty hunter, Imara Vex.
The other team was composed of Skora, Sentinel, K-A0S, and Utooni. Sprocket recalled that Skora and Sentinel complimented each other pretty well, and that was somewhat worrisome for him. He also knew that Grozz and K-A0S had quite the history, given that a long time ago, Grozz had taken the droid's arms and used them to make his weapons. K-A0S's fighting style was pretty unpredictable, Sprocket remembered, recalling how she often blocked her own sight with her large shield.
He remembered Skora telling him how she once witnessed a huge fight between Grozz and K-A0S. Grozz had told her that she could simply get arm replacements since she's a droid—K-A0S clearly took offense to that—and punched the Wookie in the face. She also asked him how he would feel if she took his fur off and then told him he could grow it back. He sighed, figuring the feud would prove to be problematic on the battlefield.
Sprocket then decided to ask Charr, Imara Vex, and Dizzy if they wanted to stay at his place. Charr chose to ignore him and instead started marching out of the room. Imara and Dizzy didn't seem to care, and they agreed to see what his place looked like.
However, Dizzy wanted to show off his Droideka since he noticed that Sprocket had his command chair as a ride. "You have a nice ride, kid! Come with me, I got something to show you!" he exclaimed.
Sprocket curiously followed Dizzy, with Imara trailing closely behind. Meanwhile, J-3DI and Rieve began to practice training with their lightsabers, as Sprocket had agreed to let J-3DI do so beforehand.
He followed the Ugnaught to a garage that was a short walk away from the apartments.
Dizzy opened the garage and presented his tools and designs for the Droideka.
Sprocket excitedly ran over to take a look at his inventions. "You have the coolest stuff in the galaxy!"
The Ugnaught giggled and then tilted his head curiously at Sprocket. "Tell me, kid, how do you make your chair float?" he questioned.
Sprocket knew the answer to that question all too well. "The same way I made my floating bots—but I make my own parts," he told him.
Click! Bang! Bong!
An unsettling noise began to arise from Dizzy's Droideka.
"Not again," Dizzy said, seeming to be somewhat frustrated. "I've been dealing with this problem since I found this thing!" He looked over the Droideka motor as smoke began to spew out.
The curious Mon Calamari examined the motor. "Let me fix the problem for you!" Sprocket beamed. He gave a quick grin as he pulled a mini-tool from his floating chair and attempted the Ugnaught's iconic phrase, "I have spoken."
Dizzy looked like he wanted to burst out laughing, although Sprocket recalled that he wasn't anything like the other Ugnaughts.
Sprocket tinkered with the Droideka for a few moments longer, until he finally fixed the problem. "Done! Now you don't have to worry about it anymore," he promised.
Dizzy looked at the motor and started up the engine. "Ah yes, I don't have to worry about the noise anymore. Thank you, kiddo!"
Sprocket noticed that Imara Vex seemed to enjoy watching him get along with Dizzy, and he wondered if maybe the bounty hunter wasn't so bad after all.
"Would you like to ride my Droideka? Seems like you really want to try it out," Dizzy said with a knowing glance at Sprocket.
Imara appeared surprised. "That's the first time you've asked someone to ride your Droideka. The last time you tried to let someone ride it, they stole it," she recalled.
Dizzy sighed. "I know, but I trust this kid."
Sprocket gave Dizzy a smile, and shortly after, the Ugnaught began to teach him how to operate the Droideka. Sprocket started out driving the Droideka in slow circles. He began to realize how much fun it really was as soon as he got the hang of it.
"Look, Imara! I'm riding it! Weeeeeeeeee!" Sprocket shouted as he spun around.
The female bounty hunter nodded her head and smiled. "You're brightening up my day, kid."
"That reminds me, I got a plan for Dynamic Control, Charr has to be here for this." Sprocket stopped riding the Droideka and began to lay out his map on the work table.
Imara shook her head. "I'm afraid we have to work on this plan without Charr. He's not exactly the listening type—and no offense—but I think he's still upset about the matchmaking."
"Okay fine. Let's begin." Sprocket redrew the map. "It won't be easy since Sentinel can stun Slingshot and knock him out of the point. I have only ever seen K-A0S twice. I need time and research, but she can create a small earthquake. Imara will focus on Utooni. Charr is more likely to go after someone alone. Slingshot and I will try our best to get the point before they do and defend it."
"Who's going to deal with Skora?" Imara questioned.
Sprocket was not happy to answer the question. "I will."
The legendary bounty hunter saw right through him. "You don't sound very confident. What's up?"
"I want to win, but I don't want to hurt a friend."
Imara put her hand on his shoulders. "Kid, there are no 'friends' in the arena," she told him sternly.
Dizzy hesitated, "Sometimes you don't have a choice. In the end, there can only be one winner. Either it's you or them," he reminded Sprocket. "I don't know about you, but my dream is to get sponsored so that I can participate in pod racing."
Sprocket began to experience feelings of guilt and confusion. He didn't like the idea of going against his friend—but he had to participate in the Arena. He didn't have much choice. "I wish I didn't have to fight my friends, though."
Imara sighed. "In the Arena, you don't need friends. And you shouldn't be looking to make any," she said. "I'll still stick to your plan. But if we are about to lose, I'll have to do it my way."
Sprocket didn't like the sound of that. I still don't like this… And does Imara think my plan will fail? he wondered as he looked over to Dizzy.
The Ugnaught decided to change the topic. "Hey kid, I got the new hover engine in the mail today; it's gonna be a real boost to your performance."
The team spent the rest of the night upgrading their gadgets and greeting weapons to use in the match. It was tedious work, that was for sure, but Sprocket was certain that it would help them win the upcoming match—they had to be fully prepared for the morning.
Because it certainly wasn't going to be an easy game.
The next day, the two teams are sent off to the Forest Arena. Sprocket remembered creating this map a few months ago, but the thought of actually playing on the map made him feel somewhat sick to his stomach. Both teams prepare themselves as they prepare to face off against each other. Sprocket observed the area and spotted the first control point, fixating on it intently as the timer counted down.
"Ready, set, go!" the announcer bellowed.
Charr and Imara Vex immediately went to the rotating point. Meanwhile, Sprocket and Slingshot took a secret path to the control point, as they had discussed it with each other prior to the match.
Unfortunately, they ran into Sentinel and K-A0S, who were already at the point, looking as though they were expecting them.
As Slingshot and Sprocket tried to advance onto the point, K-A0S swiped at them viciously, knocking both of them away from the area.
"You're not fast enough!" K-A0S mocked, her metallic voice cutting through the air like a knife.
Before Sprocket could do anything, Slingshot launched his rockets at the two Hunters in response, dealing minor damage to both Sentinel and K-A0S.
Sentinel yelled at Skora angrily, "What are you doing? Heal me!" The Imperial Heavy Gunner didn't seem to realize that Skora was busy running away from Charr.
Sprocket knew that Charr loved the thrill of the hunt and wouldn't stop until he succeeded in whatever hunt he was on, which he figured would either prove useful to their team—or very detrimental. He figured that Charr thought Skora was easy prey and that her running away only made Charr more eager to catch her.
Sprocket turned back to the control point where Slingshot was attempting to push onto the point, but to no avail. Dizzy found himself unable to move as Sentinel stunned him with his gun. Sprocket hurried over and launched his defense and healing drones around Dizzy, trying desperately to protect his friend.
Abruptly, the ground began to rumble as K-A0S started to power up her signature move. Sprocket stumbled as the world around him seemed to shake under the effects of K-A0S's powerful earthquake.
It was so strong that Sprocket and Slingshot were eventually knocked off of the control point.
"This isn't working! We need Charr!" Sprocket cried to Slingshot as the point began to switch locations.
"Let's go to the next point—hurry!" Slingshot replied, beginning to roll over to the objective.
Sprocket followed him, unsure what to do from here. Their team was losing badly, but there was still a chance that they could come back. He wasn't sure if it was possible, but he knew they were going to have to work together if they were to ever succeed. We've got to pull ourselves together!
"The Gundarks are at 37 points, and the Mudhorns are at 5 points!" the announcer exclaimed.
Sprocket looked around hopelessly at his teammates. Imara Vex was scrambling to try and finish her fight with Utooni. Suddenly, Utooni began to transform into their secret weapon—a scrap cannon they had constructed that could shoot lasers from miles away. The female bounty hunter was trying urgently to dodge the lasers as she attempted to launch her rocket.
Meanwhile, it seemed as though Charr had lost Skora in the forest. Sprocket realized that the Trandoshan had seemingly given up—perhaps the Rodian had been too fast for him. Sprocket signaled for Charr to follow them as he and Slingshot began to head to the next point. To Sprocket's relief, Charr began to follow them to the control point.
The Mudhorns reached the point before Sentinel and K-A0S this time and they gained a few points.
"Skora, use the bomb! Now!" Sentinel ordered as he ran into the second area.
Sprocket could see the conflict in Skora's eyes, but it quickly faded away. She's doing this for her sons, Sprocket reminded himself as Skora took out the bomb. She tossed it—however it missed, and as she stumbled forward, she stepped into one of Charr's traps.
"There you are, you little womp rat! I'm finally gonna get you!" Charr snarled as he got his gun ready.
Sprocket yelled after his teammate, "No, stand here! We need you!"
Charr ignored Sprocket and ran off to where Skora was being held. Sprocket shook his head in frustration, realizing that Charr simply didn't want to listen to him. Sentinel hurried over to Charr before he reached Skora and knocked him away with his gun.
Charr quickly got back up, his eyes blazing with anger. "How dare you!" he hissed at Sentinel.
Charr furiously shot at Sentinel and tied him up with his laser tether. Sprocket noticed that the Trandoshan was standing in some of Skora's poisonous chemicals, though, and that seems to make Charr somewhat dizzy. Sprocket quickly deployed a healing drone around Charr, although he isn't sure it's strong enough to withstand Skora's poisons.
K-A0S knocked Charr to the side, pushing the rest of the Mudhorns away from the control point. This results in the Mudhorns now having 40 points and the Gundarks having 50.
Meanwhile, Imara had finally finished her duel with the Jawa brothers, and she then headed back to Sprocket and the others.
"We're not gonna win this if Charr keeps doing his own thing!" Slingshot grumbled.
Charr snarled but didn't reply, as if arguing with Slingshot was pointless.
Sprocket suddenly had a brilliant idea as he looked at Charr's snare trap. "I've got an idea; can I borrow your trap?"
Charr grumbled reluctantly. "Alright, I don't see why not," he replied, handing one of his snare traps over.
Sprocket began to whisper his plan to the Charr—and to his surprise, the Trandoshan seemed to like it. He explained the plan to the others as well, who all seemed on board, of course. The group separated after Sprocket finished and began to get to work.
Slingshot quickly rocketed behind Sentinel and K-A0S, trying to distract them. "I heard that your mom left you and Grozz used your arms as a back scratcher! I'm so lucky I didn't have that happen to me!" Slingshot mocked.
Sentinel and K-A0S spin around furiously, eyeing Dizzy as though they want to tear his Droideka apart with their bare hands.
"I'll make you eat those words!" Sentinel shouted as he and K-A0S advanced on Dizzy.
Sprocket nodded to his teammate, signaling for him to keep them distracted a bit longer. He and Charr hurried over to the last control point. As they approached the point, Sprocket caught sight of Skora charging towards it. Abruptly, the Rodian was struck by one of Imara's rockets. She stumbled down, appearing hurt and in some kind of pain.
Sprocket's eyes widened as he saw his injured friend. No! She wasn't supposed to get hurt! his mind screamed as Charr lumbered absentmindedly over to the control point. Sprocket hurried over to Skora and huddled down next to her.
"I'm sorry," Sprocket muttered to Skora.
Skora looked up, as if she might say something, when Imara came up beside Sprocket and pointed her gun at the Rodian. "Sorry, my friend, but we need to win," Imara told her.
As she pulled the trigger, Sprocket launched one of his healing and defense drones around Skora without even thinking, saving the Rodian.
"Oh boy! This is what we called a dynamic turn of events! Sprocket just saved his enemy!" the announcer said dramatically.
Imara turned to Sprocket. "Why did you do that?" she asked, seeming somewhat upset.
Before Sprocket could reply, Sentinel and K-A0S come in and knock Imara backwards, beginning to sprint towards the control point.
But they end up stepping into Charr's hidden snare trap before they can reach the point, just as Sprocket had intended.
"Two birds with one stone. I like it," Charr said as he used both his scattergun and his claws to get rid of the two tanks.
Sprocket and the others hold the control point for a bit longer and gain the necessary points required to secure their victory. The crowd let out a roar as the announcer proclaimed that the win went to the Mudhorns. Sprocket noticed that the audience was quite fixated on Charr, and he slightly wondered if all of their cheers were aimed at the Trandoshan.
Imara stormed up to Sprocket, tossing her helmet on the ground in front of him. "Next time, let me do my job! And don't help the enemy!" she shouted, shoving past the Mon Calamari and walking away.
Sprocket sighed and turned to Skora, who was using his healing formula on her wounds and scars. He was both happy and surprised to see that his own formula was actually working as intended.
"Thanks for saving my life," Skora said, catching Sprocket by surprise.
Sprocket gave a nod. "You would've done the same," he tells her.
"Well, thank you," Skora said as Grozz made his way over.
The Wookie helped Sprocket pick up Skora, and they headed back to her apartment so that she could make a full recovery. Dizzy, Rieve, and J-3DI caught up and helped with preparing dinner for Skora. Sprocket and the others wanted to show their appreciation for Skora—who used to be on their team—and who used to do all of their healing.
Charr joined the party momentarily. "I smell something good in here! Like my mother used to cook me at home!" he told them as he sat down.
Skora opened the Holocam so that everyone could join her in talking to her sons.
"Is this your friend, mom?" one of them asked.
"And hey, that's Sprocket! He's the one that helped my mom in the battle!" the other one chimed in.
Sprocket began to feel pride fill his chest as the son's remark. I did the right thing, he thought to himself as the rest of the group began to greet Skora's sons, with the exception of Charr, who was too busy stuffing himself with food.
"Maybe I should settle down and have some child of my own someday," Charr commented through a full mouth.
Sprocket could tell he was quite envious of Skora for having two sons. Perhaps the Trandoshan wanted a nice family like Diago and Skora had.
He noticed that Imara Vex was watching the party from afar, simply standing by herself in a corner. Maybe she's feeling guilty about almost killing Skora, he thought, recalling how the two were supposedly good friends. He remembered the bounty hunter telling him about the pranks that she and Skora would play on each other. They were fine… until Hale told her she'd gone soft and that no one would hire a friendly bounty hunter.
Sprocket guessed that was the reason Imara and Skora fell off. Imara told me they fought once before in the Arena—and Skora had no choice but to shoot Imara—or she would've lost the game. He recalled that after that game, Vex had lost clients, and that resulted in the conflict between the two growing even stronger. Perhaps that was why Imara insisted on not becoming close with anyone.
Suddenly, Sprocket received a call from Hale. "Congratulations on winning a second time. Now, it's time to find yourself a special move. Every Hunter has a special ability that does immeasurable damage to their opponents. That's what the audience wants—a good surprise," Hale told him sternly.
"Okay, I'll think of something," Sprocket replied, hanging up with Hale momentarily.
Sprocket went back to his apartment, beginning to brainstorm ideas for his special move. He pondered many different options until finally settling on one. He then decided to call Dizzy and ask him if he could visit his workshop to create his special move.
Chapter 5: Signature Move
Sprocket decided to visit Dizzy's workshop to brainstorm what his Ultimate ability would be and to pick up some weapon parts from Brinna's Blasters for Dizzy.
He was listening to J-3DI talking about the Force-healing ability of the ancient Jedi when he heard something falling in the back of the shop.
Dizzy looked up from his work. "Alright, who's hiding in there?" He pulled out his wrench.
Out of the shadow came Utooni, the Jawa brothers. "M'um m'aloo!" they shouted in Jawaese.
They spoke rapidly, introducing themselves as Dizzy and Sprockets' teammates for the upcoming game.
Dizzy rolled his eyes. "That doesn't mean I'm allowing you to take things from my shop."
Utooni said something in turn, which J-3DI translated, "Oh, come on, just because we're Jawas doesn't mean we steal stuff! Now about this droid—how many credits do you want for it—"
J-3DI stopped translating momentarily. "Hey! I will let you know that I am not for sale! I am a Jedi warrior, and no one can purchase me!"
Utooni looked somewhat offended. "I know my species is known to take things, but we take abandoned objects and recycle them, resell them, or make something useful out of them," J-3DI translated their seemingly aggravated response.
"You guys wanna help me with my ultimate weapon?" Sprocket asked.
The Jawa brothers agreed to help, so Dizzy asked them to go to the scrap yard to scavenge some parts.
Abruptly, they are interrupted by Sentinel, who stormed into Dizzy's workshop. "Alright, it's time for some serious training. I want us to win this game! And if we're going to win, we need to work on our skills and learn to fight without these trinkets!" The Imperial Heavy Gunner exclaimed.
Sprocket watched as Dizzy took out his wrench and he realized that Dizzy must not be happy with Sentinel barging into his workshop. Dizzy rolled up his sleeves as the Stormtrooper approached him. To Sprocket's surprise—and very clearly, Sentinel's as well—Dizzy managed to stand his ground against the trooper, eventually making him stumble to the ground.
The Mon Calamari remembered his last interaction with Sentinel and recalled that it hadn't been so good. He remembered asking for advice, but it turned out that was too much work for Sentinel. Sprocket pretended to be dead all the time, and that made Sentinel give up on his training rather quickly. Hopefully this time is different.
Sentinel got up and brushed off his armor. "Fine! You—Jawas! You're coming with me for training. And you—Baby Octopus—show me your strength!"
"I'm actually a Mon Calamari," Sprocket corrected him.
"Let me see how you punch, kid!" Sentinel replied, ignoring his snarky response.
Sprocket did his best to try and land a punch on Sentinel, but it was quite a feeble attempt.
Sentinel shook his head. "Weakling! You'll be easy to knock out in battle without your little toys! I won't let our downfall be because of you!" Sentinel shouted. "We need some real training!"
"I need to work on my Ultimate Weapons," Sprocket muttered, feeling somewhat humiliated by Sentinel's statement.
"You can't always rely on your weapons in battle," Sentinel snapped, causing Sprocket to flinch.
"Don't be hard on him. He's only a kid!" Dizzy chided.
"That's no exception!" Sentinel told Dizzy. Turning back to Sprocket, he added, "You can work on your weapon later. After our training is done."
"I guess it wouldn't hurt. I do want to learn some moves from you, Sentinel," Sprocket admitted, glancing up at the heavy gunner.
"I would like to collect data from your training," J-3DI said. "I am most eager to see what you have to teach us, Sentinel."
"Alright, it's settled then! Meet me in the training field tomorrow morning!" Sentinel informed them, turning around and marching out of the workshop with his head held high as always.
Sprocket, Slingshot, and Utooni spent the rest of the night working on their weapons. Sprocket created a turret to use as his special movie. He made sure to test it out and was relieved to see that it worked properly. Although it was slightly too big for him to carry to the training field. This led Sprocket to redo his design a few times—before he eventually began to fall asleep.
J-3DI gave him a blanket and carried him back to his apartment, realizing that Sprocket needed to sleep. Sprocket didn't object as his droid placed him in his bed so that he could get some rest.
"You need some sleep, master," J-3DI told him.
"I know, thanks, J-3DI," Sprocket replied as he began to drift to sleep.
He hadn't even realized how tired he was; all he had been focused on was working on his turret. It had certainly drained all of Sprocket's energy, and he figured that was why he was so groggy. He sighed as sleep began to take over him, wondering if he would be able to please Sentinel and silently hoping that he would somewhat impress the ex-Imperial. I'll make sure he doesn't regret having me on his team.
The following morning, Sentinel knocked on Sprocket's door. "Time for your training!" he called.
J-3DI woke up Sprocket and made him some breakfast. "Wake up, master," he told him.
Sprocket got out of the bed and put on his clothes, feeling anxiousness begin to creep up on him as he thought about the day he had ahead of him. He also hated waking up in the early morning.
Meanwhile, Sentinel was growing impatient and continued to knock on the door. The Mon Calamari quickly finished his breakfast and dressed up for his training.
J-3DI, Sprocket, Utooni, and Sentinel arrived at the training field after a short walk. To Sprocket's surprise, they found Rieve, Grozz, Skora, and Zaina working out in the field already.
"Alright, I want to see you run seven laps!" Sentinel yelled at Sprocket and the others while he lifted a weight with one arm.
J-3DI seemed to have no problem running laps, as Sprocket figured. It was easy for him since he was a droid—and therefore he didn't tire. The Utooni brothers appeared to have run the laps before, so they looked relatively comfortable warming up.
Sprocket, on the other hand, was already sweating before he finished his first few laps. After a couple of minutes, he felt so exhausted that he simply fell to the ground. His entire body was aching, and he felt more tired than he ever had in his life.
Grozz and Skora came over and carried him to the nearby bench. They gave him some water, which he happily took.
Sentinel walked up to Sprocket. "What happened? Utooni can run a few laps, and they are almost the same size as you," he grumbled, clearly upset with Sprocket's performance.
Sprocket looked down. "I skipped and failed military class," he muttered unenthusiastically.
"I'll just have to work harder in order to make you a better man!" Sentinel retorted, beaming with confidence.
Oh great, Sprocket thought, it's going to get worse. As the training continued, Sentinel made him eat and drink the necessary food to help him perform better. He eventually made him do some push-ups and lift weights.
After the training was done for the day, Sentinel handed him a water bottle and a towel. "Not a bad start, kid."
It turned out that Sentinel wasn't a bad person after all; he just had an intense personality, although that was part of his Arena persona, Sprocket recalled. Sprocket then headed back to Dizzy's workshop to build and test another turret. Skora, Grozz, and Rieve came over to bring him some dinner and drinks, which Sprocket appreciated immensely.
The next day, Sentinel knocked on Sprocket's door again. Sprocket was up this time, however, and he had already eaten breakfast and gotten into his training outfit. He hurried out the door and followed his new mentor to the training field.
This time around, Sentinel made him toss a ball into a ring. He also made Sprocket run a few laps. Grozz, Rieve, Skora, and J-3DI joined him in running the laps. To Sprocket's surprise, Sentinel joined them as well. Perhaps Sentinel wanted to have some fun as well.
After the fifth lap, Sprocket began to feel tired again. Sentinel offered to take him to Dizzy's workshop so that he could fix his E-weapons, and Sprocket happily agreed to do so.
Sprocket managed to make his new turret a perfect size, but the firepower just wasn't enough. He took a small break from working on it and decided to help Sentinel with his repairs. Meanwhile, Dizzy tried to reach the roof of his Droideka so that he could clean it. Sentinel lifted Dizzy up so that he could do so, and this warrants a smile and a thumbs up from the Ugnaught.
On the third day of training on the field, Sprocket used the training equipment to give himself another challenge. J-3DI, as usual, followed what Sprocket was doing. Sprocket noticed Sentinel watching him as he tried to use his gun to shoot the target dummy.
The Stormtrooper corrected his positions accordingly as he went along and even showed Sprocket how he used his gun. Sprocket was grateful that Sentinel was taking such time to help him improve, and he realized that he had the Heavy Gunner all wrong.
Once again, Sprocket ran a few laps, this time finishing seven laps for the evening. Sentinel wrote a few things down on his checklists. Sprocket wanted to train for the rest of the night, so he decided to ask Sentinel if he could do so. Sentinel didn't mind, but he recommended having some dinner first, which Sprocket agreed to.
Sentinel and Sprocket ate some sandwiches on the roof, overlooking the entirety of the Arena from where they are.
"You're not bad for a Mon Calamari," Sentinel told him. Sprocket realized that this was the first time Sentinel had complimented him. It always seemed like he was generally not good at showing kindness or giving compliments, but right now it seemed different.
"Thank you! And thanks for buying me a sandwich; these are great!" Sprocket took a bite out of his sandwich. After he finished his sandwich, he turned to Sentinel again. "You're so different from a Stormtrooper, so why does the audience hate you so much?"
"It's all for the show. I'm supposed to be the Hunter that everyone hates. I don't enjoy it, but I'm doing it for the rewards," Sentinel told him, standing up as he finished his own sandwich. "Well, anyway, are you ready for some more training?"
Sprocket nodded, and he and Sentinel packed their stuff and headed back to the training field. They spent the rest of the night running laps around the field.
The next morning, Sentinel brought Sprocket some breakfast. He invited his friends to the field to do some warm-up laps with him, and Sprocket realized he had never felt happier. After training, Sentinel helped Sprocket put the finishing touches on his turret, using some inspiration from their training. Sprocket was grateful for all of the help the Imperial Heavy Gunner had given him. He truly hoped that his turret would prove to be the game changer he was looking for.
The group was now ready for the game tomorrow—and all Sprocket could do now was hope that his new invention worked how he intended.
Chapter 6: Power Control
This round, the team signed up anonymously against the other team. Sprocket and the others found their opposing team across the map—which was the Vandor Railyard. There, he saw Aran Tal along with some of the new Hunters: Bich the Heavy Metal Rock Star, Gamorrean the Exiled Warrior, and Proxy the Droid.
Every time Sprocket was up against Aran Tal, he felt like rolling his eyes. He watched Aran Tal give him a double thumbs down from across the map. Sprocket was quite disgusted, but he decided to mock the Mandalorian by giving him a double thumbs up in return. The Mon Calamari smiled when Aran Tal stopped gesturing at him, as he realized he must've hit a nerve.
Although that didn't make Sprocket feel as confident as it should have. He didn't know anything about the new Hunters on Aran Tal's team. Sprocket did have a backup plan in mind in case his original plan didn't work—and he wasn't quite sure if it would.
Dizzy started the engine on his Droideka, signaling he was ready for the match. Sentinel seemed prepared already, and Sprocket recalled that the Imperial Heavy Gunner had been doing this for years. Utooni checked their weapons to make sure they were working, and Sprocket put on his hat and got his drones ready.
"3…2…1… GO!" the male announcer yelled.
Sprocket and Sentinel immediately shot forward and headed to the middle of the map—Point B. Utooni stayed back at Point A so that he could capture the first point. Dizzy quickly went ahead to Point C, where the enemy team was taking their respective point.
The Mon Calamari watched Aran Tal fly over to Point A, where the Utooni were awaiting his arrival. The Jawas shot some bolts at him but to no avail, as they fell short of the Mandalorian warrior and missed him completely.
Unexpectedly, Aran Tal used his flamethrowers and spewed large gouts of flame at Utooni. Sprocket knew that move as his signature move—the Fury of Clan Tal. He realized that the Jawa brothers might be in danger, as Aran Tal's Ultimate was no joke.
"Feel the heat!" Aran shouted as he blasted his fire at Utooni.
It seemed as though Utooni began to panic, and Sprocket watched helplessly as the brothers ran away from the flames.
Sprocket wanted to head back to help his teammate; however, Sentinel was busy trying to fight and knock Bich and the Gammorrean away from Point B. Bich used the Adago with his music, which resulted in his allies' speed being slightly increased.
Sentinel shouted, "I need some healing!" He was struggling to hold the point as several bullets bombarded his shield, causing it to crack somewhat.
Bich tuned up his electric guitar and got his boombox ready. He did some poses, getting ready to use his special move. "Music is in my veins! It's time for the encore!"
Before Sprocket could react, Bich created a large soundwave from his guitar. It pushed Sentinel and Sprocket away from Point B, leaving both of them laying on the ground. The young Mon Calamari began to feel panic arise in his chest as the sound from the world temporarily vanished and the world around him grew blurry. He turned to make out the shape of Dizzy—who was also struggling against the Proxy droid—and saw that the droid had copied Dizzy's rocket.
At that moment, Sprocket felt the urge to give up. We're never going to win this, Sprocket thought. I have no knowledge of how to defeat these new Hunters! He lay there with Sentinel, feeling the aching of his muscles become almost overwhelming as he started to get his sense of hearing back and the world came back into focus.
Sentinel bravely tried to stand up, and he stumbled over to Sprocket rather feebly. "Send me your bots. We're not giving up yet," he whispered to him. "Get up, Sprocket!"
For a moment, time seems to stand still. Sprocket realized that this is the first time Sentinel has said his actual name instead of just calling him a kid. Sprocket clenched his jaw as he began to realize he wasn't ready to throw away his fighting skills that Sentinel had taught him. I'm not giving up on Sentinel. He needs me! his mind screamed as he slowly got up. He ran over to his control pad to summon the healing drone and defense drone to Sentinel.
The healing drone covered most of Sentinel's injuries, and the Bacta Fountain made him quite invulnerable to damage for a short time. Sprocket and Sentinel hurried back to the point, and Sentinel used his E-Web to stun the Gamorrean warrior off of it—and they finally captured Point B.
Sprocket glanced to his side and saw Bich was trying to shoot him with his guitar gun. He dodged to the left and rolled away. Now he could see that Aran Tal and Proxy were coming over to help reclaim Point B again. The Mon Calamari desperately tried to contact his team with his com, but they were not responding.
Sprocket looked back to see that Sentinel was struggling against the enemies as they advanced on Point B. The Imperial Heavy Gunner couldn't hold the point against Proxy—who could copy his abilities. Sprocket realized that he had to think of something quick, so he ran to his command chair to bring out his secret weapon.
Aran Tal boosted over to Sprocket's position with his jetpack and laughed slightly. "I'm not letting you win this time, kid!"
Sprocket used his leg and kicked Aran Tal, making him trip and fall to the ground. He had learned this move from Sentinel—and it seemed to catch Aran Tal by surprise. He pulled a weapon from his chair and quickly assembled it. Sprocket started pulling out his Ultimate Weapon. "My special move—the Ultra Turret!" he yelled.
The Ultra Turret fired at Proxy, who slowly backed away from Sentinel. The turret then turned to Aran Tal and opened fire on the Mandalorian.
"Freakin' Mandalore!" Aran Tal cried, seemingly aggravated by being shot at.
Bich played the Sonata to heal his allies with his music. He was interrupted by Slingshot, who barreled into him with his Droideka, resulting in his ability being canceled out.
Proxy was ready to take on Slingshot again; however, Utooni approached the droid from behind and zapped him, causing him to break down.
Dizzy smiled and gave a thumbs up to Utooni. "Good job, boys!"
Utooni beamed with pride and amusement and moved to target the Gammeroen warrior, who was trying to push Sentinel off the point. Dizzy quickly hurried over and finished off Gammeroen with his Rocket Stomp ability, using his Droideka's rocket to jump up and slam his weight down on the opponent.
Abruptly, Sprocket's turret ran out of ammo, which allowed Aran to finally be able to focus on Sprocket again. He flew over to the Mon Calamari and charged up his gun. "This time I'll—"
The Mandalorian got electrocuted by Utooni, who had come up from behind him. Aran Tal collapsed to the ground, fainting from the electricity.
"Good job, team! Now let's go get the other points and win this thing!" Sentinel praised them.
Slingshot headed back to reclaim Point C, and the Utooni walked over to claim Point A, resulting in their points reaching 100.
"The Mudhorns win the game!" the female droid announced.
The team cheered and congratulated each other, fueled by their victory. All around them, the audience erupted into cheering as well, sparking their pride even more. Meanwhile, Aran Tal and the others get picked up by the rescue team, which Sprocket watches in delight.
He couldn't believe that he was able to win against Aran Tal—and without his backup plan nonetheless. Sprocket couldn't have done it without Slingshot, Utooni, and Sentinel, though. He silently couldn't shake the feeling that he hadn't done that much this game. But he enjoyed the victory regardless. "You all are amazing. I wish I could learn to finish off the enemy like you guys," Sprocket told them.
Dizzy looked at him. "It's all about teamwork! And sometimes—a little surprise too!"
"You did your part by keeping me strong enough to hold the point! If we had lost that point, we'd have lost the game," added Sentinel.
Sprocket began to feel grateful for all of the support his teammates were giving him. "Thanks," he said, his confidence returning.
The Mon Calamari watched as the Utooni brothers picked up his turret parts for him. It was a nice gesture that went a long way—and Sprocket gave Utooni a fist pump as a thanks.
The Mudhorn team spent some time hanging out with fans in the field and giving autographs out. A lot of the fans went over to Sentinel or Dizzy, and Sprocket began to wonder if he even had any fans at all. That was, until a young Rodian approached him hesitantly, looking at Sprocket with wide eyes.
The Rodian stared at him. "Can you sign my book?" he asked.
Sprocket was screaming on the inside, utterly excited to have a fan. Sprocket pulled his pen out and signed it right away. "I'm so happy to have you as my fan!" he said.
The Rodian giggled, and Sprocket watched him run back to his mother. Sprocket had never felt so much pride and excitement as he did in that very moment. For the first time in a long time, he was beginning to feel as though he truly belonged.
Chapter 7: The Fan Mail
Sprocket, Sentinel, Slingshot, and Utooni hung out in the locker room and watched the screen as another battle took place. The Mon Calamari observed his friends Rieve, Grozz, J-3DI, and Skora on the same team against Zaina, Diago, and some other tanks who were new to the Arena. The game was Power Control, the same game that Sprocket and his teammates had just finished. It seemed like Rieve's team was doing well against the opposing team, although fighting alongside J-3DI tended to make things a lot easier.
The Mon Calamari turned to see Aran Tal walking into the room. The Mandalorian headed straight to his locker and opened it. Sprocket couldn't help but wonder what was inside the locker, and he peered over Aran's shoulder to try and catch a glimpse. It looked as though there was a photo of Clan Tal and another photo of school kids that he usually visited after his wins. In addition to this, there were also pieces of newspapers hanging around. The Mandalorian abruptly noticed that Sprocket was looking at him and quickly closed his locker.
"What are you looking at, kid? Trying to find something to gloat about?" Aran Tal snapped.
Sprocket winced. "No. I was just wondering why you have photos and newspapers in your locker." He knew Aran usually donated his winnings to the charity—and that he was giving the money to the orphanage."This was part of my motivation to join the Arena. After Clan Tal died, I found a new purpose. I wanted to win all of the money and send it to orphans," the Mandalorian explained sadly. "I wish I could adopt all of the orphans to be my foundlings, but it would simply be too much. Perhaps if I make enough money, I can raise my own clan," Aran added as he gathered his things.
Tal must've noticed Sprocket's look of compassion and sympathy, because before Sprocket even had a chance to reply, Aran stepped past him. "Don't give me sympathy, kid. It just messes up my image," he mumbled as he walked away.
Sprocket knew that Aran Tal always wanted to be seen as a strong person in the Arena, and that he'd rather not show his soft side to anyone. Sprocket watched him leave the room, feeling a newfound sense of respect and admiration for the Mandalorian.
He watched as Charr stormed in after his battle was finished. Charr aggressively opened his locker and tossed in his belongings, appearing upset. After the Transdoshan closed his locker, he looked at a photo quickly before tossing it in the trash can. He walked away, leaving the curious Mon Calamari wondering what the photo was.
Sprocket walked over and grabbed the photo from the trash, looking at it curiously. The photo was of Charr's ex-girlfriend, which Sprocket had heard rumors about in the news. He knew that Charr didn't want to talk about what had happened.
The Utooni brothers saw Sprocket holding the photo and made their way over to him. They attempted to say something to him, showing him books, scissors, and some paint. Sprocket figured out what they meant right away.
"Oh, I see! You want to make a scrapbook!" Sprocket said with a smile.
The Jawa brothers nodded with excitement. Then they try to say something else to Sprocket with some more gestures.
"Oh yeah! We need a camera droid—I'll build one right away!" Sprocket exclaimed.
The Jawas quickly got the supplies ready for Sprocket so that he could build one in a few minutes. He got to work as soon as they gave him the parts and finished it momentarily. After the camera droid was done, the Jawas got excited, seemingly wanting the camera to take some pictures of their own.
Sentinel and Slingshot must have heard the racket they were making, and they both turned around to look at Sprocket and the Jawas.
"What are you guys doing?" Slingshot asked. "Your friends are finishing their match," he told them.
"We're taking pictures for the new scrapbook!" replied Sprocket as the Jawas snapped a few photos of themselves.
Rieve, Skora, J-3DI, and Grozz burst into the locker room a heartbeat later, their expressions brimming with happiness.
"Sprocket, we won the match!" Rieve said excitedly as she wiped her sweat from her brows.
The Jawas took a photo of them and said something in their language, which J-3DI translated, "Let's have some fun! We're going to build a scrapbook with Sprocket—we will find some leftover art supplies for decorations."
Grozz chimed in as well, and J-3DI had to translate again, "That sounds fun! Let's have a party in my apartment!"
Sprocket and the others nodded their agreement, while Sentinel and Slingshot looked somewhat hesitant to join the party.
"Generally, I don't like silly, childish activities, but why not? We had a hard battle today," Sentinel said. "A little celebration won't hurt."
"Yeah, you're right!" Dizzy agreed.
The group of Hunters then went to Grozz's apartment, which Sprocket realized isn't like any apartment he's seen. The room was lined with decorative plants that hung from the walls, making it look like a jungle—perhaps it was supposed to mirror the Wookie's home planet of Kashyyyk.
Rieve sat on the sofa that appeared to be made out of fur of some sort. It looked quite relaxing to Sprocket. Meanwhile, Grozz poured some blue milk into a few glasses.
The Sith Assassin used the force to bring the drink to her. "Thanks, Grozz. I'm so thirsty after that game."
The group gathered on the floor with art supplies after they all had their fill of blue milk. Grozz and Skora were busy sewing something together, while the Jawa brothers couldn't seem to stop playing with the paints and rubbing them on each other. Dizzy seemed to be working on drawing something as well.
Sprocket looked at Slingshot's drawing as he finished it, and he realized that it was a paint job for his Droideka. "She's gonna enjoy her new look!" Sprocket said.
J-3DI drew some pictures from past battles and handed them to Sprocket. "I hope this can add to your collection."
"Thanks, J-3DI." Sprocket added the drawings to his scrapbook.
Sentinel sat on the couch with Rieve, and they both watched the last live game in the Arena for the day. Sprocket assumed that they were both curious about how the game was going to end.
He turned away and began to focus on drawing his friends in the scrapbook. He wasted no time with his work and finished the drawings momentarily. He showed it to his friends, feeling proud of his work. "Hey, everyone! Look what I made!" he exclaimed.
Sprocket watched his friend as they all reacted positively to his scrapbook design and the drawings. He never felt so happy as he did at this very moment. Everything he had imagined—from spending time with all of the Hunters to doing some fun activities—was coming to life. What was even better was that Grozz wanted to give him the dolls that he had made.
"Dolls of yourself, Rieve and Skora? Wow, you're so talented! Thank you!" Sprocket beamed as he embraced the dolls tightly.
Rieve giggled as she looked at the doll of herself. Sprocket. Skora seemed happy to have a doll made for her—and it seemed like she was enjoying having friends to spend some time with.
J-3DI looked at Grozz. "So, are you going to build a doll version of me?" he asked, attempting to make a joke.
Grozz laughed and said something in response, which J-3DI translated, "Sprocket already has something better—which is you!"
J-3DI spinned his head in amusement. "That is true. Ha-ha, I can make some good jokes!" he said with delight.
"Looks like Sprocket made some changes to you," Rieve commented. "I don't recall you having a sense of humor."
"No, I learned it from all of you," J-3DI replied.
Everyone shared a laugh together at the droid's response—except Sentinel, who was still invested in the game.
Sprocket looked at the screen, watching as a droid announcer came into view. "The winner is the Gundarks! That was the final game for tonight! Next week, we will announce the finalists for the final match!" he announced.
Sprocket suddenly felt quite nervous. He wasn't sure if he had made it to the final round or not. He began to sweat profusely as he became lost in his own thoughts. What if I didn't make it? What if I wasn't good enough? His mind began to whirl as his anxiety grew. He realized he hadn't thought about the final game at all—what if he hadn't qualified?
Rieve seemed to notice his tension. "Don't worry. If you don't make it, that's okay. There's always next season," she said in a comforting tone.
Rieve was right; there was always next season if he didn't make it this time. No worries, he thought. The others seemed to be nervous as well, even though it was not the first time they'd been through this process.
Although this year was different, as Balada had worked intently with Hale to attract more audiences and send all of the Hunter profiles to potential recruiters. Sprocket learned from Hale that the recruiter came from a client that was of the upper class, one that likely had a big reputation in the galaxy. This season was the only chance that the Hunters had to show off to them.
After the party, Sprocket and others returned to their respective apartments. J-3DI collected all the fanmail that had gathered outside of Sprocket's apartment and handed it to him.
"You got a lot of great comments," J-3DI said.
Sprocket began to read all of the letters from his Mon Calamari fans. What hit him the most was a letter from a Mon Calamari that wanted Sprocket to be the face of the show:
Mon Cala is booming with clients and visitors. The economy has improved a lot, and the galaxy is beginning to trust the Mon Calamari because of you. We are eager to see you play in the game—and we are grateful to have you representing us. Keep at it and don't give up!
Sprocket felt somewhat surprised. He had joined the game for fun. He hadn't expected his presence to make such an impact on his species and his home planet. He opened another fanmail and began to read it. It was quite similar to the last one he had read:
I hope you get first place. You're a huge inspiration to me, and I am hoping the Hunter Arena will have their first Mon Calamari winner!
Sprocket started to have feelings of anxiousness and nervousness all over again. It seemed like the entire Mon Calamari society was putting all of their hopes and dreams into him.
But Sprocket was only a kid who simply wanted to show off his inventions and make new friends. He felt himself beginning to drift between his dreams and reality. He began to feel somewhat queasy as his apprehension built up inside of him.
J-3DI came over and measured Sprocket's heart rate, seeming to realize what was happening to Sprocket. His droid companion gave him some pink sea sponge from his home planet, and Sprocket immediately rubbed the sponge on himself to try and relax.
"I didn't expect to be the face of the Mon Cala planet," Sprocket admitted as he felt himself calming down. "Everyone is expecting so much from me…"
J-3DI observed him. "Just relax, my master. It seems as though the force is with you. Use that as an advantage… and perhaps you will find the solace you seek."
Sprocket was somewhat confused by what he meant, but he decided to take his advice and try to relax. He headed to his bed and pulled out his scrapbook with the photos of his friends one last time.
While he was looking at the book, J-3DI sprayed some water over him to hydrate his skin to prevent infection and dryness. He also made sure the air stayed cool in Sprocket's room. Then he pulled his blanket over him and closed the door as Sprocket put away the scrapbook.
"Good night, master," J-3DI called as he walked away.
Sprocket relaxed completely and began to fall asleep comfortably. He kept the pillow-sized sea sponge next to him as though it were a stuffed plushie. He remembered kids around his age and how they loved to rub their faces on the sponges or hug them, as it was incredibly soft.
His troubles began to fade away as he started to fall asleep. I can't solve everything, he reminded himself, although it was hard for him to admit. He sighed and let sleep take over him, telling himself that he couldn't solve his problems right now and that it would do him no good to worry.
The next morning, Sprocket woke up to a strange quietness. Usually, he would've heard from J-3DI by now. Perhaps the droid was simply doing something else—or perhaps something had happened to him.
Sprocket quickly got dressed and began to frantically look around for his companion. He looked everywhere, but it seemed the droid was not in the apartment. "J-3DI!" Sprocket cried, panic starting to set in.
Sprocket pulled up a Holocom and messaged Rieve, asking if she knew where he was. She said that she hadn't seen him. He then asked the other Hunters where J-3DI was—but no one seemed to know where he was.
Where could he be? Sprocket's mind began to race as he began to search from place to place. As he was running, he accidentally bumped into Hale.
Sprocket was panting. "Have you seen J-3DI?" he asked.
Hale looked at him. "Yes, I have caught the one who stole J-3DI!" He showed a tablet that displayed the Holocom news—which stated that the Jawa brothers—who had been stealing weapons, including Dizzy's Droideka, had taken J-D3I apart. The Utooni brothers had thus been disqualified from the finals.
Sprocket had never felt so betrayed. He was utterly stunned that Utooni would do something like that. I thought we were friends… He didn't quite know what to feel—in fact, he was feeling a torrent of emotions that he's never felt before. Sprocket felt upset, angry, confused, and most of all—deeply betrayed.
All he could do was stand there with that shocked expression on his face—and all he could do was wonder why Utooni would ever have done something like this. Maybe it was just in their nature. They were scavengers, after all. Sprocket just couldn't understand it, though—and maybe he never would.
The only thing he knew was that he wasn't going to trust them ever again.
Chapter 8: J-3DI's Origin
Sprocket's apartment was gloomy, quiet, and dark. He could feel his heart beating as he lay on his couch restlessly. He felt so overwhelmed by the recent news and all of the thoughts that were going through his mind. Sprocket felt as if he could no longer move. He was paralyzed by all of the emotions he was feeling—and it felt awful.
He had lost his best friend and most loyal companion, and he had lost the thing he had been truly passionate about—the thing he had spent the majority of his life on—and that was J-3DI. J-3DI had one part that other droids didn't have: a Jedi-Holocron with all of the Jedi history and ancient texts that Amos had given him.
But worst of all, Sprocket felt as though he had lost the one person he knew he could always rely on.
I still can't believe Utooni would do something like that, he thinks to himself. Maybe Imara Vex was right; there is no such thing as a friend in the arena.
He grabbed the sea sponge pillow tighter and started to cry.
His sobbing stopped when he heard a soft knock on the door. Sprocket sighed and decided to ignore it. He simply wanted to curl up there and be left alone. He wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone.
"Are you okay, Sprocket? I haven't seen you since you asked about J-3DI. I saw the news on the channel too," the voice called, and Sprocket recognized it as Rieve's.
Sprocket wanted to reply, but he was too emotionally drained to say anything. He just muttered something inaudible, far too rattled from his crying to muster up any words.
"To tell you the truth, I miss J-3DI too. Annoying as he was, he was one of my best friends. He was a good teacher to me—and a great friend," Rieve said from the other side of the door. "I'm here if you need someone to talk to."
Sprocket reluctantly summoned up the strength that he had and left his couch. He sauntered over to the door and opened it slightly for Rieve. He felt somewhat embarrassed and a little hesitant to show Rieve he had been crying; however, it seemed like Rieve understood him.
She kneeled down and gave him a soft pat on the shoulder. "Let me get you some water," Rieve said while Sprocket realized that his skin was drying up.
Rieve used the force to collect a glass of water and a guitar from her apartment. Sprocket sat back down on the couch, and she began to play some slow music on her guitar. He found himself calming down as he listened to the soft music.
"Some people think I'm a terrible person for embracing the whole Sith persona. And honestly, sometimes I wonder if they're right," Rieve began. "Am I just an insensitive con artist who abandoned those who cared for me just because I am unable to accept that I'm different? That I'll never be 'normal' because of this power I never asked for? There were moments when I didn't think I could go on anymore… times when I wished it would all end… But you know who's always believed in me during those dark times?
J-3. He reminded me of the kids whose days I brightened up: the girl who lit up at my dazzling lightsaber duels, the boy whose eyes sparkled with excitement as I re-enacted the legendary battles he read about over and over. It was J-3 who taught me not to be so hard on myself and who made me realize I'm exactly where I'm meant to be."
When Rothwell tried to seize control of the Arena, it was his unshakable faith that gave me the strength to fight for what's right, even when the odds were against us. He would always fret about not being a 'real' Jedi, but I know, just as you do, that he embodied the spirit of one more than anyone else," Rieve finished, exhaling as she did so.
As Sprocket sipped his glass of water, memories of J-3DI flickered through his mind. Those memories pulled him back to thoughts of Amos—known to most as the first Arena engineer, but to Sprocket, he was something far more. Amos was a father figure, the one who took the young Mon Calamari under his wing when he found him wandering the streets of Vespaara after running away from a place that was only a home by name. Amos had raised him like his own, and despite his grueling job, he always made time for Sprocket.
When Sprocket was old enough, Amos brought him into the fold, letting him assist in the design of the Arena. It was Amos who convinced Balada the Hutt to officially hire Sprocket as an engineer. Together, they were tasked with creating something extraordinary—an unforgettable Hunter that would capture the audience's attention. They worked tirelessly to bring J-3DI to life.
Then, Amos was sent on a mission to find someone to play a Sith, part of Balada's grand scheme to revitalize Vespaara with new Hunters and daring new game mechanics.
But Amos never came back.
Sprocket never learned the full story of what happened. Hale had said Amos didn't survive an ambush by local Imperial Remnants, dying in his arms. The loss hit Sprocket hard. During that dark time, J-3DI was there for him, always looking out for him. And now, J-3DI was gone too. Sprocket wondered if he'd ever see him again.
Suddenly, the music stopped, snapping Sprocket back to reality. He hadn't realized how much the melody had soothed him, even as it left behind the simmering emotions of anger and sadness.
"I hope you're doing alright. They're going to announce the finalists pretty soon," Rieve muttered, her voice low, almost hesitant.
An hour later, Rieve and Sprocket received a Holocom message from Hale.
"Congratulations! You two have been selected to participate in the final! I will send you another message with your assigned trainers and your practice area for the game," Hale informed them.
Before Sprocket closed the message, Hale turned to look at Sprocket. "And Sprocket, one last thing. I'd rather not have you sit on the chair for the whole match. It's getting quite boring. The audience prefers some more action."
"Okay," Sprocket said as he closed the Holocom.
Rieve shook her head. "He sure is bent on running a show."
Sprocket and Rieve then turned on the Holocom to see the broadcast of the show, where Hale was making more announcements.
"We have selected these finalists based on skills, past games, and fan favorites! This year, the reward is much bigger, and the event will be far more challenging!" Hale exclaimed. "This game will change everyone's fate forever!"
The screen then showed images of the finalists: Aran Tal, Grozz, Rieve, Sprocket, Sentinel, K-A0S, Charr, and Skora.
Sprocket was glad that most of his friends had made it. However, he found himself wondering why Imara Vex wasn't among the finalists, as she hadn't lost a game and she usually always ended up in the finals.
Rieve glanced at the screen. "I heard Diago had a family emergency, but I don't know about Imara Vex. Maybe she decided to forfeit this year… and Dizzy probably can't compete without his Droideka."
The sith assassin turned off the Holoscreen. "The final is going to be pretty intense. I assume you have a plan, right?"
That made Sprocket think about one of his ideas and about revisiting his old project, which were a pair of hover skates that he had left in his closet. He turned to meet Rieve's gaze. "Yes," he replied. "I do."
Chapter 9: Backstage
Hale was sitting in a dimly lit room, surrounded by holographic displays. A voice came from one of the Holocoms.
"Have you found anything in your research?" asked a Hologram of a blue-skinned Chiss dressed in white imperial uniform.
"Yes, luckily I have received a lot of information from the droid. You were right, there is a Jedi Holocron in his memory disk." Hale tapped his fingers on the memory chip that seemed to belong to J-3DI.
"Excellent!" Thrawn replied.
Hale nodded. "However, you will have to send some troops to help; I expect there to be much resistance from the Hunters."
"Send a garrison to Vespaara to collect the Holocron. I have a detailed analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of all the Hunters. I sent you a data file," he informed an aid next to him.
Thrawn cracked a twisted, devious smile as the Quarren began reading the document. "I can assure you that once this is all over, I will grant you full control of Vespaara."
"Thank yo-" The transmission cut off before Hale could finish his sentence. He shook his head. "These underground Holocom networks sure are unstable… At least they will stay under the New Republic's radar… For now."
The next morning, Sprocket went to the training grounds early to get a head start for the day.
Sprocket wanted to speak with Skora, but he couldn't find her anywhere. Then he tried to talk to Grozz, who informed that he was very sorry, but he was busy with his weight lifting. Sprocket knew that everyone was very serious about the finals, as they all needed some space to prepare.
He decided to visit Dizzy's workshop, only to find that it was closed. Sprocket assumed that Dizzy must be devastated about losing his Droideka and didn't want to talk to anyone right now. He could sympathize with that, as he had felt the same way about losing J-3DI.
Sprocket looked at his schedule and realized that he was going to be late for his meeting with his costume designer, Milo. He made his way to a large circular room near Balada's palace that he'd never noticed before. It reminded him of a similar place back on Mon Cala, where the Mon Calamari had their costumes designed for their traditional water dance.
The costume designer approached Sprocket and began to remove the special bandages from him. "It's mandatory that we change the bandages on all finalists," Milo informed him.
To Sprocket's knowledge, Balada always gave bandages to all Hunters to prevent any fatalities in the Arena. He always had one, even though he had never joined the game prior to now. It seemed as if they might have made some improvements or changes to the bandages.
The designer proceeded to show him several outfit designs on the screens. "Does anything stand out to you?" he asked.
"Hm, I like this one! It speaks volumes about me!" Sprocket said, brimming with excitement as the designer cast the holographic images around him.
"Good choice; you've got some colorful taste! The outfit will be ready in three days," Milo told him. "I'm wondering, what's so special about the blue milk carton?"
Sprocket was happy to answer his question. "I'm glad you asked! Blue milk is a symbol of friendship!"
The designer looked at him. "That's cute. I would save it for your interview."
As he was reminded of the interview, Sprocket suddenly felt quite nervous. He wasn't ready to be live in front of millions of audiences throughout the galaxy. Looking to his side, he opened his mouth to crack a joke to J-3DI.
But J-3DI wasn't here.
Sprocket started writing notes down for the interview and as he did so he began to realize how much he missed his droid companion.
Sprocket eventually headed back to his apartment to find some nice clothes for the interview. It turned out he had about three outfits in his closet, all of which were work clothes. Maybe he didn't need to wear fancy clothes after all.
About three hours later, Sprocket arrived at the interview room wearing his old outfit. He stood in line near the door, waiting anxiously for his turn. He watched as Aran Tal walked out of the room, a smug smile clearly beneath his helmet, seemingly brimming with confidence.
"Oh yeah! I'm the best warrior on the whole planet! And I'm always the hero!" Aran Tal exclaimed as he danced around the hall.
Sprocket was not amused, as he recalled that Aran always said the same thing for the interview—every year.
Then there was Skora, who Sprocket thought he could hear sobbing through the door. He couldn't exactly make out what she was saying, but it sounded like something about giving her sons a better life and saving up for a Rodian private school.
After Skora's interview was done, the female attendant brought Sprocket into the room. He noticed that all the cameras are pointing at one spot—the spot that he'll soon be in. He found it very intimidating, as he wasn't used to all the cameras being around him. Hale was standing behind the cameras as the cameraman. Sprocket sat down on the chair in the center of the room with the background casting his logo behind him.
Hale turned to Sprocket. "Tell the whole galaxy about your backstory. The audience will love to hear about it!"
No pressure, then, Sprocket thought, should be easy enough, right?
"You're live… Now!" the cameraman shouted.
Or perhaps not. It was so sudden that Sprocket was caught off guard. He knew the attention was on him now. He hoped that he wouldn't screw anything up.
"Oh, hello! Erm… I'm Sprocket, the Mon Calamari Hunter! I've always got cool gadgets to show off!" he started hesitantly, "So about me… I'm from Mon Cala, and I have a family who lives there. And I am competing in the final match!" Sprocket rambled on.
He felt slightly embarrassed now. It was like he was giving a speech on the first day of school—only in front of millions of viewers.
"What makes you want to be a Hunter?" Hale questioned.
"Well, my grandfather used to take me here when I was younger. I want to have fun and make new friends!" Sprocket replied. "I want to show the galaxy my amazing inventions! It's always been my dream!" he exclaimed.
"We know that you're the one who made J-3DI. We're sorry for what happened to him. Do you have something to say about it?"
"Yes, J-3DI… He was my guardian, like my older brother, and he was always watching over me. Amos helped me build him. I miss both of them dearly," Sprocket responded, sadness lacing his voice.
Halle nodded. "What would you do if you won this final game?"
That was a good question—and Sprocket had a genuine answer for it. "I don't want to win for the money. I want to do this for Amos, J-3DI, my friends, and for everyone in Mon Cala—who is counting on me!" he replied, energy surging through him. "I'm the face of Mon Cala!"
After his interview was finished, he headed over to his friend, Skora, as she sat in a corner by herself. Sprocket could tell she was feeling pretty sad, and she also seemed somewhat lost.
Sprocket went to say something to her, but she shoved him away. "Don't hold back in the finals. It's better to play the game fair and square. You're fighting for Mon Cala's reputation, which is not worth losing it for me and my sons."
The Wookie Warrior, Grozz, seemingly heard them, and he came over, attempting to say something, although it was inaudible. Sprocket could see the sadness etched across his face, though, and he didn't need a translator to know that the Wookie was going to say something similar.
Zaina, the Rebel War Hero, came over to join the conversation. "I'm competing in the Arena to make a living and to represent the Republic!" she informed them. "But rewards and trophies don't replace friendship. We're still friends, and we'll always be there for each other in times of hardship."
"You're right," Sprocket agreed.
"Remember—it's still a show, and perhaps we can work things out after the game. And this is your first season competing, Sprocket. Try your best to win," added Zaina.
Sprocket nodded, realizing that he felt relieved whenever Zaina was around. She had a calming presence about her, and she was always saying just the right things.
As he and his friends talked some more, his mind began to drift to the upcoming game. He couldn't help but feel uneasy about it all.
But he was going to keep his word. He had to win the game for Mon Cala, Amos, and J-3DI. Everyone was counting on him.
And he sincerely hoped he wouldn't let them down.
Chapter 10: Final Round 1: The Maze Brawl
Sprocket and other finalists spent about a week working with their personal trainers and costume designers. They were then given a script and rehearsal for the opening of the game.
Hale had sent out advertisements throughout the galaxy—advertising something about an extra special game this year. It wasn't going to be Squad Brawl this time. Sprocket also recalled that they had been preparing a huge arena for months on end and that it was going to be much different from the arena they were used to.
Sprocket hung the little dolls of Skora, Rieve, and Grozz on his purple-and-yellow decorated chair. His costume designer then helped dress him up for the final.
A few moments later, the finalists lined up under the stage, waiting for their names to be called. Sprocket looked at the various screens displayed around him.
This year, they hired a well-known female singer, as well as some dancers. The singer is lifted up to the stage—and she is soon live in front of millions of audiences. She began to sing upbeat and seductive songs with electronic disco music playing in the background. Lights and fireworks surrounded the singer, illuminating her on the stage.
Sprocket couldn't help but dance to the music. Grozz, who is behind him, does a little dance of his own. Skora just smiled as she stood in line. Sprocket noticed that Rieve glanced over to them, but she turned away rather quickly, seeming to not care as much. A few other Hunters simply ignored them and waited for the signal to walk up to the stage after the song was done.
After the song ended, the audience erupted into loud cheers. Meanwhile, the Hutts and Hale looked up at the statistics of their broadcast, watching as their views and credits went up. After a few moments, Hale signaled to the person on the top to change up the stage.
"Time to introduce our finalists for the last round!" the male announcer shouted. "Everyone put your hands up for the Mandalorian Vanguard, Aran Tal!"
Sprocket watched as Aran Tal walked onto the stage and did a little dance, following the beat of his theme songs. He waved to the audience, making them burst into more cheers. The audience then chanted Aran's name as he fired his flamethrower into the air.
Aran Tal left the stage and made way for the next Hunter—Sentinel—who was accompanied by two of his fellow Stormtroopers.
"Give it up for the Imperial Heavy Gunner, Sentinel!" the announcer said.
Sentinel headed onto the stage with his troopers, and he did a few poses as the Imperial March played in the background, followed by his theme song. The crowd cheered even louder for him, and this seemed to spark his confidence even more.
After Sentinel's song was over, he stepped down, and the next Hunter took his place—that being Charr. Sprocket was getting somewhat anxious as he watched him go up, hoping that he could put on as much of a show as the other Hunters had.
"And next we have the Trandoshan Trapper, Charr!" the announcer bellowed.
Charr let out his iconic roar, and the audience chanted his name as he did so. The Trandoshan's theme song echoed in the background as he presented himself to the crowd.
Charr left the stage momentarily, and Sprocket watched as Rieve made her way onto the stage.
"Here's a Sith Assassin you wouldn't want to mess with… Let's hear it for Rieve!" the announcer called.
Rieve did a little lightsaber twirl and then spun the saber around, following the rhythm of her theme song. Flames and sparks blew up behind her as she finished her performance. The audience roared with excitement—and Sprocket couldn't help but gape in awe as well—it was quite the show.
He knew his turn was next, and he couldn't help but feel excited and nervous all at the same time. It was quite overwhelming. He was going to be live in front of millions across the galaxy. Sprocket tried to calm himself down by taking a few deep breaths, as that's what his personal trainer had suggested he do if he found himself becoming overwhelmed.
You've got this, Sprocket, he told himself sternly.
They signaled for him to come onto the stage as Rieve's theme song ended. She walked past him as he made his way to the stage. Rieve gave him a thumbs up, and he nodded as he headed onto the stage.
"Everyone give it up for our very own Mon Calamari Prodigy… Sprocket!" the announcer hollered.
As his theme song cued up, Sprocket did a crazy pose with himself and his chair. He performed a set of acrobatics he had learned from his trainer, which went perfectly. This isn't so bad! His bots lifted him up, and he did a little spin mid-air, which generated a collective gasp from the crowd. As his finishing touch, his bots shot out a small firework with his name and face on it—and this really created a buzz from the audience.
He danced off the stage as the crowd continued to cheer, and he found his place at his personal podium next to Rieve.
As they finished up the rest of the Hunters, Sprocket could hear their theme songs being played as he slowly caught his breath. It hadn't been as frightening as he'd made it out to be, thankfully. Once the other Hunters had been introduced, the lights flashed on each of their podiums, and they were lifted back onto the stage for the closing of the show.
"We will send these finalists to our newest and most extreme game mode… Maze Brawl! There will be interesting challenges and jaw-dropping twists!" the announcer told the crowd.
Sprocket was confused—he hadn't shared the new map with anybody—and he was the only one who had access to the holopad that contained the information for the map. How did they get the layout for it? Sprocket wondered as he glanced at the other Hunters.
Abruptly, they were hurried onto a shuttle—and they were told that they were being taken to the entrance of the maze. It all happened so quickly that Sprocket barely had time to process what was happening—or prepare himself for what was ahead. The shuttle rocketed to life, and he and the others were momentarily transported to the beginning of the maze.
Sprocket and the others were ushered out of the shuttle, where they were taken to their starting points. Sprocket attached some frames to his shoes and showed off his new hover skates to the audience, which he assumed were still watching him. He still had his chair following him since it carried his turrets and bots, though.
The Hunters stood before the transparent barrier, ready for action. Multiple camera droids circled around the colossal arena, showcasing the brand new map to the audience.
Rieve ignited her lightsaber, preparing to dash out of the starting zone at a moment's notice.
Aran checked the gauge of his flamethrowers, making sure it was fully fueled.
Skora inspected her healing solutions and connected the tube to her gun.
Sentinel turned on his comms with his backup troopers, preparing for the time he would need to call them to aid.
Charr inspected the Arena and scoffed, not appearing impressed.
K-A0S spun her shields and adjusted their tightness, making sure they were held together properly.
"Time for the countdown!" the announcer said.
The audience chanted with the announcer, "3… 2… 1… GO!"
The barrier disappeared, and the Hunters stepped out of the starting zone. Aran used his jetpack and leaped forward, entering the maze before everyone else.
Bam!
Sprocket watched as the wall in front of the Mandalorian smashed together. Aran dashed back quickly, narrowly avoiding getting squished.
Grozz lifted his arms up and let out a Shyriiwook War Cry before charging into the maze.
Sprocket, being the one who designed the whole maze, navigated the map with relative ease. He glanced around cautiously and began to survey the rest of the Arena, taking note of where the other Hunters were.
Skora applied her speed boost potion and hurried through the maze, dodging traps left and right.
Aran and Rieve met each other in a medium-sized room not too far away from Sprocket. He figured that wasn't going to end very well.
"It's you and me, Sith!" Aran shouted excitedly.
"Time to spice things up a bit!" Sprocket made out Hale's voice coming from above him, and he realized Hale was talking to the Arena operator.
Sprocket then heard huge wall movements and rattling sounds coming from someplace farther away. It was followed by a small roar and loud stomps, and Sprocket found himself frantically searching the Arena to see where the noise was coming from.
Skora stopped to check her fuel for her speedboost. She seemed to hear the noises as well, and Sprocket watched in horror as a big shadow looked over her. A creature stepped out from the darkness and let out a deafening roar.
The figure revealed itself to be the team mascot, the Gundark. The creature charged towards Skora, and she desperately tried to defend herself with her poisons—but nothing was working. Sprocket realized that it only seemed to be making the Gundark stronger.
Skora checked her formula, and Sprocket saw that it had been tampered with—as it was a different color than her usual formula. He watched as the Gundark attacked again, and the Rodian hurriedly used her speedboost to run away.
As much as Sprocket wanted to help, he found himself shaking with fear. He'd never seen a creature quite like the Gundark with his own eyes. It was terrifying and paralyzing all at the same time. Snap out of it! his mind screamed. He backed up slowly, putting more distance between himself and the Gundark.
Sprocket glanced to his left and spotted Charr nearby, seemingly following some sort of scent as he made his way through the maze. He watched as Charr arrived in an open room, appearing to have reached the scent he was searching for. Abruptly, a smoke gun popped out of the wall and sprayed some spice onto the Trandoshan.
Sprocket stared blankly at the scene as Charr seemingly lost his control of himself. He began to run around in some sort of frenzy, his face glazed over with a crazed look. Charr started to slash at the walls with his claws, and Sprocket realized that he had gone completely berserk. The Trandoshan locked eyes with him briefly from across the Arena.
Sprocket stood there, paralyzed with fear. He wondered if Charr was going to come after him—and he wasn't sure he was at all prepared for that. However, Charr paused to smell the air, and the crazed look in his eyes turned to hunger. He disappeared from Sprocket's view, and the Mon Calamari wondered if he had picked up a scent that was of more interest to him.
Either way, Sprocket knew he couldn't stand around forever. He began to make his way through the maze, his anxiety and fear clouding his thoughts as he tried to remember how to navigate through the map. He stumbled upon another room, and he peered inside to see that Sentinel was inside of it.
The Imperial Heavy Gunner was trapped inside, with a battle droid blocking his way out. Sprocket watched with wide eyes as the Stormtrooper charged up his E-Web and fired rapidly at the giant droid. To both Sentinel and Sprocket's surprise, the blasts didn't seem to leave a scratch on the droid. The droid knocked him backward, and he stumbled down, powering up his shield as the droid advanced on him.
Sprocket headed over to the room, intent on helping his friend, when suddenly Skora appeared a few meters away, running into Grozz, who had also made his way over to the area, with K-A0S coming over as well. Sprocket can see the Gundark isn't far behind Skora.
"Someone help!" Skora cried.
Sprocket wanted to help Sentinel, who was still struggling with the droid, but he knew that Skora and the others wouldn't be able to hold off the Gundark for long.
Sentinel glanced through the glass window in his room and met Sprocket's gaze. "Help the others, Sprocket! I've got this!" he shouted to him.
Sprocket gave a hesitant nod and turned to observe the situation. Grozz and K-A0S both ignored Skora—and the Gundark charged into them as they tried to fight with each other. The Gundark sent K-A0S into a magnetic field attached to a wall, trapping her there. Grozz's weapons are also lost to the magnetic field, and he let out a roar of frustration. Sprocket realized that he also looked somewhat injured from the Gundark's attack.
Skora ran over and used her healing gun to heal the Wookie, and he gave her a thankful grunt. Sprocket was still trying to make his way over to where the Gundark had thrown them. The Gundark closed in on Skora and Grozz, and the two of them stood their ground as the creature approached.
Together, they managed to overpower the Gundark, with Skora providing aid to the Wookie while he attacked the monster. Sprocket watched the creature fall to the ground unconscious and felt a sigh of relief—he hadn't had to come face to face with the beast after all.
Suddenly, a vicious roar sounded from somewhere in the distance. Sprocket looked up to see Charr emerge from the shadows, a look of bloodlust in his eyes. The Trandoshan charged at Skora and slashed her gun out of her hands. Before the Rodian could react, Charr swiped her aside, knocking her violently to the ground.
Sprocket watched in horror. Move it, Sprocket! he told himself as he headed towards his friends. He could see Grozz fighting Charr now—and the Wookie had sustained numerous cuts from Charr's sharp teeth and claws. The Wookie punched Charr back—but it wasn't enough to stop him.
Sprocket hurriedly tried to reach them, but the area around him suddenly changed and turned into a room designed for him. He was met by battle droids that he had never seen in the show. Something was familiar about it, but he couldn't quite place what.
There was a screen that allowed him to see what was going on elsewhere in the Arena and he looked to see that Rieve and Aran were still having their showdown. They both appeared equally tired. Sprocket wondered how long they had been fighting as he tried to send out his targeting drone to the battle droids. He looked back to see that what appeared to be a Mudhorn had entered the fight between Rieve and Aran Tal.
Aran attempted to use his jetpack to get away, but it was out of fuel. "What? I know I always make sure that my jetpack is fully fueled for the match!" Aran Tal shouted as he was struggling to get away from the Mudhorn.
As Sprocket fended off the droids, he could see out of the corner of his eye that the Mudhorn had charged into Aran Tal. The Mandalorian appeared seriously hurt, and it looked as though he was somewhat faint. Aran Tal checked his wounds and his bandages.
Sprocket realized almost at once as he saw Aran's bandages that they were fake—the new bandages no longer protected them from near death.
What? Why would they do that? And why wouldn't they tell us? Sprocket wondered as he felt panic settle in. That meant that there was nothing to save him from dying—and that terrified him so much that he began to freeze up. He took cover and looked back at the screen displaying Aran and Rieve.
"Rieve, we are not wearing the actual bandages! Agh!" Aran yelled as he staggered backwards.
Sprocket watched as Rieve readied her lightsaber and let the Mudhorn come to her. As the Mudhorn got into range, Rieve leaped forward and cut the horn off of the creature, stabbing it with her lightsaber. The Mudhorn crashed to the ground, and Rieve then helped Aran Tal up. They both continued through the maze slowly.
Sprocket sighed with relief, knowing that Rieve had made it out okay. He brought his attention back to the battle droids and desperately tried to fight them off, but to no avail. Their armor and gun power were much too strong for him.
It seems the person who designed these droids got inspired by my own idea of battle droids for the Arena, Sprocket realized. Wait… If the droid was designed based off of his blueprints, then Sprocket could test this theory by utilizing the flaw he implanted in his designs.
He used his Holopad to create a drive that could stop the droids from working. Sprocket used his small drone to fly behind the droids while he tried to keep them busy by distracting them. He kept dodging the droids' blasts, but a few caught him in his arms. Sprocket winced in pain and quickly used his healing drone to protect and heal him from the incoming fire.
The small drone rapidly placed the drive into the battle droids, causing them to disable and fall apart.
Sprocket breathed a sigh of relief. "That's why I left a weakness in my designs," he said aloud.
As he exited the room, he turned to another screen that displayed Grozz and Charr—who were still fighting each other. After a few more tireless swipes at each other, they both fainted from their seemingly endless battle. The screen then showed Aran and Rieve, who were staying somewhere to take a break. They appeared to still be injured from their battle with each other and the Mudhorn.
Sprocket suddenly remembered Sentinel, who wasn't too far from where the Mon Calamari was. He hoped that the Imperial Heavy Gunner had been able to stand his ground against the large battle droid. He hurried over to the room that Sentinel was in, arriving just as the Stormtrooper's gun ran out of ammo. Sprocket watched as Sentinel frantically pulled out a grenade from his back, and he noticed the Stormtrooper's hands were shaking.
Sentinel was going to use the grenade to blow up the droid—but he was likely going to get caught in the explosion. Sprocket opened his mouth to scream something to his friend, but it was too late. Sentinel tossed the grenade between himself and the droid, creating a huge explosion. The droid shattered to pieces, and Sentinel staggered backwards as the shards of the droid were propelled every which way.
Sprocket raced over to the exit as Sentinel crawled out of the room. He gasped as he took sight of the Imperial's legs. They had been brutally injured by the explosion—and perhaps from the aftermath as well.
"Sentinel! Are you okay?" Sprocket asked as he crouched down to look at the extent of the cuts. Sentinel grunted in pain, and Sprocket sent out his healing drone. "This is all I have left on my healing bot." Sprocket used every last bit of healing on Sentinel's legs, and the Stormtrooper winced as he did so.
His wound healed up a bit, but Sprocket could tell that Sentinel was exhausted, and he could see he was struggling to catch his breath. Sentinel put his hand on Sprocket's shoulder. "Leave me… I'll be fine," Sentinel rasped. "Get the trophy, Sprocket."
Sprocket nodded, although he felt sad and somewhat hesitant to leave his friend here. He had no choice, though, as he knew the others were probably heading for the trophy. "Okay, just hang on!" Sprocket replied as he turned and ran toward the direction of the trophy.
Sprocket slowly realized something about the maze as he ventured through it. If my theory is correct, the wall moves like a clock and the trophy is in the middle. He stands near the wall. If my calculations are right as well, then the wall should be rearranged to the exit where the trophy is.
The walls opened straight to the throat pillar.
Sprocket ran between the walls and saw a glowing light as he approached the trophy. There it is! He could feel his anxiousness growing as he raced toward the light.
Abruptly, a figure arose from somewhere under the stage, and Sprocket squinted as he tried to see who it was.
From the tunnel, he could make out a silhouette much like J-3DI's approaching him from the darkness, and Sprocket felt a surge of surprise and confusion fill his chest.
J-3DI?
But then the figure's lightsaber lit up. Sprocket's eyes widened with horror as he realized that the lightsaber wasn't blue.
It was red.
Chapter 11: Final Round 2: The Showdown
As Sprocket approached J-3DI, the droid turned around and shot him off of his chair. Sprocket staggered backwards, looking up with widened eyes as his former companion stared down at him, his cold robotic eyes gleaming with malice.
Sprocket quickly realized that J-3DI was no longer himself. The droid shredded his armor off and transformed into something truly terrifying—J-3DI wasn't the droid he had made all those years ago. Sprocket couldn't help but stare blankly at the new J-3DI, who now had black armor and piercing red eyes. The sight of it made Sprocket's blood turn to ice.
"I'm not a Jedi. I'm a Sith Lord!" J-3DI shouted as he held his red lightsaber over his head. "I am now S-1TH!"
Sprocket could hear the crowd go wild as the shocking twist settled in. Sprocket felt himself unraveling as he desperately tried to make sense of what was happening. I don't understand. How did this happen? His mind whirled as he glanced over to S-1TH. Sprocket was trembling—and he couldn't stop his emotions from taking over.
S-1TH took advantage of this and slashed his red lightsaber down on Sprocket. The Mon Calamari quickly dodged his attack, using what he remembered from his special training with Sentinel. Sprocket tapped on his Holopad and summoned his bots, using their abilities to fire at S-1TH.
The droid deflected the blasts back at the drones, and they fell to the ground in front of Sprocket. Sprocket stumbled away from S-1TH feebly, unsure what to do next.
"What's wrong? Having trouble killing me through all of your emotions? You're not qualified to be a Hunter!" The droid laughed maniacally.
Sprocket didn't want to destroy the droid he had spent so long creating—he didn't want to destroy the one true friend he ever had—but he didn't want to lose either.
I'm not ready to destroy my own creation… I'm not ready to destroy you, J-3DI, Sprocket thought grimly as he looked at his former companion. His mind spun in circles as he tried to come up with some kind of resolution to this horrible nightmare.
"You're a weak little octopus! You should have stayed at home, kid!" S-1TH kept trying to slash at Sprocket.
Sprocket felt a spark of rage bolt through him. The real J-3DI would never have said anything like that to him. At that moment, he made up his mind. He was going to destroy S-1TH. He's not J-3DI anymore.
S-1TH pulled Sprocket towards him with his hands and lifted up his lightsaber, ready to slash him. However, Sprocket quickly grabbed a mini electrical weapon that he had been hanging onto—a weapon made by Utooni—and he zapped the droid with it.
S-1TH short circuited temporarily.
"You're not J-3DI!" Sprocket shouted as he summoned his ultimate turret.
The turret rapidly opened fire on S-1TH. The droid tried to deflect the beams, but his guard was slowly breaking. He couldn't hold on for much longer. Sprocket could barely watch as the turret overtook the droid and blasted him to bits. His creation was now gone—and so was his best friend.
Sprocket fell into deep sorrow. He never imagined he would have to destroy J-3DI, and yet here he was. It was the most difficult thing he had ever done. He broke down and cried into his hands. I'm sorry, J-3DI.
Through his tears, he could see the trophy on the top of the pillar. Sprocket summoned up the strength he had left and made his way to the trophy, his vision still blurred from his crying. Sprocket lumbered over to the trophy and removed it from the pillar, which generated a cheer from the audience.
Hale hovered down momentarily on his ride to congratulate Sprocket. "We have a winner… Sprocket! The first Mon Calamari to ever win in the Arena!" he announced. "And we can't thank him enough for designing this year's Arena! He's truly a prodigy!"
Sprocket couldn't help but feel uneasy when Hale made the announcement, although he wasn't sure why. He and Hale watched the guards retrieve the Hunters that were stuck in the maze, and they were then flown to the medical room.
"You looked exhausted; why not have dinner with me?" Hale asked with a smile.
Sprocket nodded hesitantly, and Hale brought him back to the main Arena, where everyone was waiting. As Sprocket walked through the hall, he noticed his friends looking at him with disappointment. He looked down, knowing what they were probably thinking.
He heard Aran's voice coming from the medical room—he seemed to be talking to the nurse. "That kid is nothing but a cheater! If I won this year's game, I would have donated to charity! What is a kid going to do with all the money, huh?"
Sprocket sighed and glanced around, spotting Skora, who was heading back to her apartment. She looked at Sprocket with sorrow-filled eyes and closed the door behind her. Grozz ignores Sprocket and closes the door to his apartment too. Rieve simply walked away when she saw him.
Sprocket shook his head as he followed Hale, feeling more alone than he had ever been before. He thought he caught a glimpse of Imara Vex watching him disapprovingly, but he wasn't sure. He shrugged and continued after Hale.
The Quarren finally brought Sprocket to his office—where there was a luxury feast awaiting them. Sprocket sat down and looked at the dish that was served to him. It was a traditional Mon Calamari special: seaweed soup. The soup lifts Sprocket a bit as he tastes it, but his chest still feels tight with sadness.
Hale turned to him. "Why so glum?"
"I'm glad that I won, but I don't feel any happier," Sprocket told him. "It feels like I don't belong here."
"You should be happy that you are victorious!" Hale replied. He pulled out some screens and holograms to show to Sprocket. "Tell me, what do you see?"
"I see Hunters fighting to have a better life and future," Sprocket mumbled.
Hale shook his head. "That's not what I see. I see pride, entertainment—and history! Audiences are dying for the best entertainment in the galaxy! And we've provided that!" he said as he waved his hands enthusiastically.
"You really don't see them as living beings, do you?" Sprocket asked boldly.
Hale seemed confused by his response. "Why join the game in the first place, then? You can just stay behind the scenes and make more designs for the Arena instead."
"I don't want to work for the arena anymore." Sprocket looked away and pushed his dish aside.
"Then you're of no use to me, Sprocket," Hale said, his tone suddenly old and unsettling. "Guards! Take him to the break room." Hale summoned his guards as Sprocket stared at him blankly.
He noticed that Hale was holding something, and he realized with a sudden feeling of horror that it was J-3DI's memory chip. "So… so you're the one who took J-3DI and turned him against me?" Sprocket cried. "That means you know everything about the Hunters. You know all of their weaknesses." Sprocket couldn't believe his own words. He couldn't believe what was happening.
It was Hale. It had always been Hale. He was the one who sabotaged the game. He was the one who framed Utooni. He had been pulling the strings right from the start, and Sprocket had been too blind to see it.
Hale didn't say anything and waited for the guards to grab him. Sprocket desperately tried to fight them off, but it was useless. He simply wasn't strong enough. The guards grabbed a hold of him and dragged him towards a cell. Sprocket writhed and fidgeted as they carried him, trying to break free. The guards halted momentarily and tossed him into a cell. Sprocket crashed to the ground uncomfortably as he heard the door lock behind him.
Sprocket immediately raced to the door, looking around. He caught sight of Utooni in the cell next to him and felt his stomach drop. He frantically banged on the door, tears starting to stream down his face. "How could you do this?" Sprocket yelled as he pounded on the steel door. "Are you gonna keep me here forever?" he asked after Hale didn't respond.
Hale laughed. "Yes! And don't worry, I'll make the room much warmer for you!"
The temperature in the room began to increase momentarily, and Sprocket started to panic. He could hear Hale's footsteps fade away as the Quarren left him to die.
Sprocket felt tired. It was getting harder and harder to breathe—and it was becoming difficult to keep his eyes open. He found himself gasping for air as he fell to the ground, the world around him starting to blur. He desperately needed water.
And he needed to get out of here.
Sprocket could feel his skin start to boil as sweat ran down his entire body. He felt violently ill as he started to slip away from reality. He couldn't even cry anymore—his tears had dried up along with every other liquid in the room. He wasn't sure he was going to make it.
"Help!" Sprocket choked out, pleading that someone answered.
But no one did.
He had never felt so helpless. He knew that no one was coming for him. Sprocket was completely alone—and he was going to die alone. All of the feelings of betrayal, anger, and grief that he had bottled up inside of him came out at that very moment, and he collapsed to the ground, the world beginning to fade from his view.
He thought he could hear a muffled noise in the distance—it sounded like someone had bumped into Hale. He wasn't sure if he was hallucinating or not, but he was sure that he could make out a distant voice.
"Oh, excuse me. I'm sorry," the voice said.
Imara? Sprocket feebly lifted his head from the ground, struggling to make out what was happening on the other side of the cell door. He heard a faint explosion and felt the world around him shake violently. The cell door fell to the ground, smoke billowing from around it.
Sprocket couldn't make out the figure that stepped into the room, as his vision was so blurry he thought he would go at any moment. He heard the figure break something open—it sounded like a Bacta can. The figure came over to him and sprayed it on his body.
"Please wake up," the voice begged—and Sprocket realized that it did indeed belong to Imara Vex.
He could feel the Bacta working to heal his infections and skin as Imara sprayed it over him. He could feel the energy and life coming back to his body. Sprocket blinked a few times, and the world slowly came back into focus. He no longer felt weak or tired, and he realized that the Bacta had allowed him to make a full recovery.
"Thank you, Imara," Sprocket coughed, his throat still dry.
Imara nodded and helped him stand up. "I'm going to get you some water, but first..." Imara Vex walked outside and headed over to Utooni's jail cell.
Sprocket limped over to see what she was doing. The Jawa brothers stepped back, and Imara Vex blasted the door open with her trusty rocket.
Utooni cheered and hugged Imara Vex, then they walked over and shook Sprocket's hand.
"You're welcome," Imara said. She then turned her attention to Sprocket. "I've got something to expose Hale. Balada will have no choice but to fire him."
"And what would that be?" Sprocket asked, still collecting himself.
Imara Vex pulled out something from her pocket, and Sprocket's eyes widened.
It was J-3DI's memory chip.
Chapter 12: Final Round 3: The Boss
A dark cloud formed over the Vespaara sky as Sprocket, Imara Vex, and Utooni made their way to Balada's office. They headed down the hallway, and Sprocket could hear that something was going on.
From the clanking of metal that Sprocket could make out, it seemed like Hale had brought some droids and perhaps additional allies.
"What's the meaning of this?" Sprocket could hear Balada's strained voice.
"I'll be the one who will control the entire game now," Hale told the Hutt.
Sprocket could hear the guards seize Balada, and shortly after, he and the others watched as the guards dragged Balada the Hutt through the hall. The guards made their way towards Sprocket and the others, who were waiting for them at the corners. Once the guards reached their position, Sprocket signaled to Utooni, and the Jawas dropped a grenade in front of some of the guards, taking them out. Imara Vex handled the rest of them.
"We need you to help us access the security room," Imara said to Balada.
Balada agreed to help the team gain access to the security room at the bottom floor of the building. Sprocket and his companions followed the Hutt closely, and Sprocket found himself constantly looking over his shoulder to make sure no one was following them.
The team finally reached the security room and they entered momentarily. Sprocket found himself marveling at all the cameras and archives—and the secret armory. The room was gloomy and dark though, giving out an eerie vibe. The place seemed abandoned as well. Sprocket and others looked around and inspected the room hesitantly.
Utooni located the armory room and eagerly went inside. Meanwhile, Sprocket grabbed the wires from the machine that sat in the center of the room and connected them to J-3DI's memory drive. He used his programming skills to look for a timeline of the last thing his droid saw. The memory drive replayed the event between J-3DI and Hale, and Sprocket displayed it on the big screen.
The video showed J-3DI hearing something in the hall and deciding to investigate it. It showed that J-3DI had found Hale and followed him back to his office. Sprocket noticed that it was nighttime and everyone was likely asleep when this occurred. He hacked into the system near Hale's office to use the camera to see who Hale was talking to. It appeared to be an Imperial Officer with a white coat.
"Seems like our secret project is doing well. A game disguised as a testing ground for us… Gathering species around the galaxy to compete in intense matches. This time, we will put them into a death match to prove our hypotheses and to test the weaknesses of each Hunter," the Imperial Officer said.
"Will do. After all, Balada trusted me… and that Mon Calamari child didn't see it coming either," Hale replied. "Luckily, I have some plans for the final game."
"The Mon Calamari have proven that he has something dangerous," the officer interjected.
"Which is?" Hale questioned, seeming to grow impatient.
"Ideas… To create and invent something that no one can. A child who can outsmart a warrior in the game seems very interesting to me," the officer responded.
"What do you want me to do with him?" Hale asked.
"If he finds out our plan… destroy him."
Suddenly, J-3DI was discovered by a guard, who found out that he was hacking into the systems. The guard zapped him and J-3DI fell to the ground.
Hale shut off the communication and stepped out of the office to see J-3DI lying on the ground in front of him. J-3DI looked up at Hale, still somewhat conscious.
Hale glanced down at him. "Oh? How rude to listen to a private conversation."
Then everything on the screen went black.
That was the last thing that J-3DI remembered, according to the memory drive.
Sprocket felt devastated to hear the truth. He couldn't believe what he had listened to. Suddenly, Imara Vex, who was digging through the security recordings on the other computer, stopped. She had seemingly found a piece of footage that was of interest to them.
"Look—I found something," Imara Vex said as she pushed several buttons.
She showed another video of what Hale did before the final. Sprocket turned to the screen and watched as Hale appeared on it again. The footage showed Quarren arresting the Jawa brothers and putting them in the cell. A guard confiscated Dizzy's Droideka while he was asleep, while a masked person mixed up the chemicals in Skora's locker. Another person created a small leak on Aran Tal's jetpack, sabotaging it.
It then showed how Hale had sent out a false letter to Diago about a family member dying. The footage went dark, and Sprocket and the others looked at each other in shock.
So it was Hale that sabotaged everything, Sprocket realized. But why didn't he do anything to me? Unless it had been Hale's plan all along to have his own creation, J-3DI, try to destroy him and for the game to have no real winner.
"Can we broadcast the videos to the public?" Sprocket asked Balada.
"Yes, there's a mic and a control station over there," Balada replied.
Sprocket and Balada set up a live broadcast across the Arena.
Balada the Hutt spoke through the mic, and Sprocket got the videos ready for broadcast. "Greetings, I'm Balada, the owner of the Arena. The head engineer, better known as Hale, is planning to take over the Arena and use Hunters as test subjects. Sprocket and Utooni are innocent. Hale set everything up, and now he's leading his army t—"
The broadcast was abruptly cut off by Hale and his battle droid army as they marched into the Arena. They were likely jamming the broadcast signal.
Sprocket looked at the security camera and saw that his friends were fighting off the battle droids.
Suddenly, a call from Rieve came through.
"Hey, Sprocket, did you design these droids?" Rieve demanded.
"Sadly. It was my original design that Hale stole. It was meant to make the Arena more challenging for the Hunters," Sprocket replied.
"First you created a rival for me, and now you're creating a rival for every Hunter, great!" Rieve grunted.
"I know, but I have a deactivation code to shut down all the droids. I need a large cellar tower to send out the code to all of the droids, though," Sprocket told her.
Balada chimed in, "Unfortunately, the tower is miles away from the Arena. You'll need transportation to get there faster."
Utooni popped up next to Sprocket, with Dizzy's Droideka at their side. Sprocket figured that the Droideka must have been in the armory. Utooni motioned for Sprocket to hop in. Sprocket hoped that Dizzy wouldn't mind him borrowing it and reluctantly jumped in.
"Balada and I will find a ship and get the others. You and Utooni need to get there as soon as possible," Imara instructed.
Sprocket agreed, knowing his other friends are too occupied with fighting off the battle droids. He knew they couldn't fend them off forever. He started riding on Dizzy's Drioka with Utooni, who appeared to be having fun with the weapons they found in the armory. Sprocket shook his head and hurried towards the tower, hoping that he would reach it in time.
In a few minutes, they made it to the tower and parked the Droideka at the bottom. Sprocket and Utooni hacked the security system to open the doors and carefully made their way to the top level.
Unfortunately, they entered a dark room, and Sprocket began to panic as he realized he couldn't see anything. He made out a few shapes in the darkness, and suddenly the lights turned on—and Sprocket and Utooni found themselves surrounded by Hale and his guards.
Sprocket saw laser pointers around them, and Hale prepared to fire on them with his gun. "I'm one step ahead of you, Sprocket. I knew you would be here," Hale sneered. "Now then, give me the memory drive of J-3DI, and I'll let you live." Hale's gun made a clicking sound as he pointed it directly at Sprocket.
Sprocket knew that Hale would stop at nothing to get all of the data from J-3DI—who's memory contained a copy of his journal. It wasn't just a journal about each Hunter's weakness, Sprocket recalled, but his own projects to counter them. He knew the only way he was going to get out of this alive was if he handed over the memory drive.
"Fine," Sprocket agreed and reluctantly tossed the memory drive to Hale.
Hale observed the drive and laid down his weapon. "I'll keep my word. I will let you live," Hale said. "But my guards… Won't."
It made Sprocket sick how deceitful Hale was. Everything was always a lie. Everything was always a trick.
And Sprocket was always too naïve to see it.
The Jawa brothers held each other tight as they accepted their fates. Sprocket kneeled down in defeat as well, knowing that there wasn't any escape this time.
He shut his eyes, hoping it will be over soon..
Suddenly, the battle droid next to Hale was crushed by one of Grozz's boulders. Skora's Ultimate, Unstable Cocktail, followed suit, raining down on the guards as they tried to flee. Sentinel charged in as well, limping slightly, his two Stormtroopers flanking him on each side.
Aran Tal and Rieve took out the guards behind Utooni and Sprocket.
"Friends!" Sprocket yelled, excitement and hope sparking through him.
"I don't like you, but I hate these battle droids even more," Aran Tal commented scornfully.
That reminded Sprocket that he needed to gain access to the tower and send out the code to the satellite. "Right, I need you guys to hold them off as long as you can while I try to send the deactivation code to the satellite," he told them.
The group nodded in understanding, and Sprocket broke away and headed to the control button. He trusted the rest of the crew to hold the droids off, and he knew they would do their best.
The button was not responding. Sprocket needed to open the circuit board under the control button to fix it. He carefully opened it up and began placing the wires accordingly. He started to work as fast as he could to fix the rest of the circuit board, but it was going to take some time.
"I love seeing how effectively my poison shot works!" Skora shouted as she was seemingly having fun shooting the goons.
Grozz let out his war cry, and the Wookie knocked down some battle droids and smashed them with his clubs, furiously tearing through them. Rieve used her saber throw to slice some battle droids in half as well, but there were more advancing—and fast. Sentinel sent his troopers to stop more of the droids from getting in while the rest of the group tried to fend the others off.
Sprocket was close to finishing the technical problem in the computer; however, he heard footsteps from behind him and a metal sound—like someone was dragging a dagger across the ground. Sprocket spun around, his eyes wide with fear.
It was Hale—who was ready to stab Sprocket with his vibroblade.
"Sprocket!" Rieve swings her lightsaber at Hale.
To Sprocket's surprise, the lightsaber went right through him—like he was a ghost. It fell down to the ground, and Sprocket was left to stare at it puzzledly.
It turned out that he was just a hologram image that was being projected from the corner. The real Hale must be somewhere in the tower, Sprocket thought as he frantically searched his surroundings. Hale must've run away after his friends had arrived—and they had likely been too busy with the battle droids to notice Hale's absence.
Sprocket turned back to the circuit and finished the rest of his work, closing the cover over as he did so. He prepared to send out the code to the satellite. "Ready to go!" He yelled and pushed the button.
Sprocket watched as all of the battle droids in the room shut down. It should shut down the ones in the field, too, Sprocket recalled as he watched the rest of the droids power down. His friends took out the rest of the guards and tied them up after a few moments.
"We did it!" Rieve shouted in triumph.
Sprocket shook his head. "No, not yet. Hale is on the loose."
"Well, where is he?" Sentinel asked.
Sprocket typed in some coding that allowed him to use the security camera outside of the tower. It showed Hale running to his ship.
"Hurry, we can't let him escape!" Sprocket cried.
The group nodded and headed down the tower. They followed Sprocket outside, where they hurriedly tried to get to the ship. By the time they reached the ship, it was getting ready for departure, and the hatch was closing.
Sprocket suddenly had an idea, but it was both risky and insane.
"Aran, carry me! And Rieve, use your force to lift me and Aran onto the ship!" Sprocket commanded urgently.
Rieve and Aran Tal followed Sprocket's order. Aran reluctantly carried Sprocket and used his jetpack to boost up to the ship as Rieve used her force to push up higher.
He and Aran Tal made it on the ship right before the door closed, they ran to the control room on the small ship. Sprocket halted as he saw Hale and watched as the Quarren turned on the autopilot before opening fire on them with his blaster.
"Give me back J-3DI!" Sprocket yelled as Tal tossed his spare gun at him.
Sprocket fumbled with the gun for a moment before aiming it at Hale. Aran blasted at Hale with his own gun, and Sprocket hesitantly shot at the Quarren as well. A few of Sprocket's shots landed on Hale's shoulder, and he cried out in pain.
Hale grunted. "I see you've learned how to shoot… But come on, Sprocket, you're not the killing type."
"Well, good thing I am!" Aran Tal shouted as he jetpacked into Hale, slamming him against the control panel and making the ship spin around.
Hale fell to the side, temporarily unconscious from the impact. Sprocket looked up at Aran, who seemed to be checking his jetpack.
Aran shook his head. "I forgot to fix my jetpack."
Sprocket quickly gathered some spare parts and tools that he found inside the ship. "Let me fix it for you!" He hurriedly got to work on the Mandalorian's jetpack and fixed it a few moments later. "There you go!" Sprocket said triumphantly.
"Thanks," Aran mumbled. "Now let me turn this ship around." He switched off the autopilot and carefully steered the ship back to the ground.
Sprocket walked over to the unconscious Hale and claimed the memory drive back, placing it in his own pocket. He turned away and began to head back to Aran, when he suddenly was zapped in the back.
To Sprocket surprise, he whirled around to see that Hale had regained consciousness and was holding a small weapon. Before Sprocket could react, the Quarren aimed the weapon at Aran Tal and shot him in the back.
Aran stumbled down as the blast hit him, appearing visibly shaken. As he tried to get up, Hale grabbed him and tossed him into the escape door, launching him away. Sprocket watched in horror as the Mandalorian was propelled away. He glanced back at Hale, who had his gun trained on Sprocket now.
Hale chuckled. "Time for you to join Amos on the other side!"
Somehow, the control panel on the ship went haywire and made the ship unstable, causing it to fly closer to the Maze map.
Sprocket smiled, feeling satisfied to see the confused look that formed across Hale's face. "I'm one step ahead too!"
Sprocket crawled into the escape door to leave the ship. He watched as Hale struggled to use the controls to try and stop the ship from crashing. Sprocket knew he had to get off of the ship. He looked down and could see the clouds.
Jump! Sprocket jumped from the ship and fell from the sky. It was the craziest decision that he had ever made. He knew there was no way he was going to survive the impact, but at least he wouldn't die by Hale's hand.
He watched Hale's ship crash into the Maze, and he felt some satisfaction in knowing that Hale was now trapped by his own game while the creatures waited for him—if he had even survived the crash.
Sprocket closed his eyes as he plummeted. It was fun while it lasted, but he knew he was going to miss his friends and everyone he was leaving behind. He felt a tear roll down his cheek as he thought of his friends. He began to feel overwhelmed with fear, and he became slightly sick from how fast he was falling.
Sprocket opened his eyes one last time, taking in the view of the beautiful Vespaara auroras once more. Just as he was about to close his eyes for good, he saw a silhouette flying towards him.
Chapter 13: Reborn
Sprocket slowly regained consciousness, a faint beeping sound pulling him from his haziness. His eyes fluttered open, and he glanced around, feeling disoriented. His arms were hooked up to various wires and sensors. He groaned and looked up at the ceiling. Bright lights were blaring overhead and he noticed a humid warmth within the pod pressing down on him.
After a few minutes, a nurse droid appeared, opening the medic pod and gently helping him sit up. She carefully removed the wires from his arms, checking his blue skin for any signs of damage, before opening the door and letting his friends step in.
"Are you okay?" Asked Skora, who pushed past the droid as she entered the room.
Sprocket blinked, trying to piece everything together. "I'm fine… I think. What happened?"
From behind Skora, Imara Vex appeared, seemingly as calm as ever. "We couldn't find Hale after the crash, but we've captured his guards and locked them up. Everyone's safe and recovering, for the most part." She then cast a glance toward Aran Tal, who stood in the corner with his arms crossed. "And Aran here saved you from the fall." She nudged him teasingly.
Aran snorted, his tone full of indignation. "Don't get all sentimental. I didn't like watching the kid plummet from the sky. Besides, he fixed my jetpack—I had to return the favor," he added with a shrug, though there was a faint trace of a smirk beneath his tough exterior.
Sprocket couldn't help but smile. Aran Tal, was still the same—tough as beskar, but deep down he had a big heart. "Thanks, Aran," Sprocket said.
The Mandalorian gave him a firm nod, acknowledging Sprocket's gratitude without making a big deal of it—which was probably a first for him.
"Hey, you alright, kid?" Rieve questioned, seemingly still preferred to act tough in front of the rest of the Hunters.
Sprocket was about to reply, when suddenly, exciting chatter filled the room as the Utooni twins scurried over, their tiny hands gesturing wildly. Imara turned toward them with a nod. "Thanks to Utooni, we were able to recover J-3DI's memory drive," she said, holding out J-3DI's memory chip to Sprocket. "This belongs to you."
Sprocket's eyes widened with relief and excitement as he took the drive from her. "Thank you. Can you bring me J-3DI's head and some tools?" he asked the Jawas, who eagerly complied.
His friends watched as Sprocket carefully inserted the memory chip back into J-3DI's head. With a few quick adjustments, J-3DI's eyes flickered to life, glowing bright blue.
"Hello, Sprocket. I'm glad to see that you're well. Did you win the game?" J-3DI's familiar robotic voice chimed in.
Sprocket smiled, his chest swelling with happiness. "I did win, but not without the help of my friends."
As the room settled into a brief silence, J-3DI's tone shifted slightly. "I have a message for you… from Amos."
Sprocket's breath caught in his throat as a life-sized hologram flickered into view, revealing Amos standing before him. The room fell quiet as everyone turned their attention to the glowing figure.
"Hello, Sprocket," Amos began, his voice rich with warmth and pride. "If you're seeing this, it means I'm not there with you anymore. But I want you to know something—there hasn't been a single day I've regretted bringing you into my life."
Amos paused for a moment, his holographic figure seemingly catching his breath as if preparing himself to speak. "You've always had a spark in you, kid. Something special, something that no one else could ever match. I saw it from the day I found you wandering Vespaara, and I knew that you were meant for something much greater."
Sprocket's throat tightened as he listened, his emotions welling up inside him.
"You're more than just an engineer. You're a dreamer—a creator. You've taken on the world with that same determination ever since you were little. And believe me, Sprocket, I'm so proud of the person you've become. I've watched you grow, seen you face your challenges, and I couldn't have asked for a better son—I know we aren't related by blood—but we are in every other way that matters. I'm so glad to be able to be there and to watch you grow up and become such an incredibly talented kid."
Amos's voice softened, a hint of emotion creeping into his usually steady tone. "I want you to know that you've already made me prouder than I can possibly put into words. I was told that you decided to join the Arena, and I'm sorry I won't be able to watch you play—but I want you to know just how happy I am of how much you've grown and how amazing you've become, you've made me believe that even in the toughest times, there's always hope, always a future worth fighting for."
Sprocket's vision blurred as his eyes welled with tears, his heart aching with both sorrow and joy.
"Now," Amos continued, his voice growing more serious, "I know you're going to face some hardships. And I won't always be there to guide you through them. But I believe in you, Sprocket. I always have. You've got more strength in you than you realize, and I know you'll do great things, no matter where life takes you."
He paused, a faint smile curling the edges of his mouth. "Remember this, kid: you're never alone. You've got your friends, you've got J-3, and you've got that spark inside you. That's all you'll ever need. I'll always be with you—in every machine you fix, every battle you fight, and every dream you chase."
Amos took a deep breath before adding one final message. "And one last thing… I love you, son. You made my life brighter than you'll ever know."
The hologram flickered and faded, leaving the room in silence. Sprocket's tears poured down his face as he stood there, unable to contain the overwhelming surge of emotions of grief, love, and gratitude that were swirling inside him.
Sprocket rushed to J-3DI, wrapping his arms around the droid's head as if he were hugging Amos. Tears streamed down his face, and he leaned in closer to his companion. "Thank you, Amos. For everything, I'm so happy to see you again," he whispered, his voice cracking slightly.
The others stood quietly, watching as Sprocket finally let the weight of everything wash over him. It was over. Amos was gone—but his words, his love—they would stay with Sprocket forever.
And in that moment, Sprocket knew that no matter what happened next, he'd carry Amos's legacy forward, not just as an engineer—but as the son Amos had always believed in.
One week after the invasion, the Arena buzzed with the sound of construction. Everyone was working hard to reconstruct the Arena. The Hunters, despite their usual bickering, joined forces, helping the other construction workers. Utooni even donated a portion of their huge scrap collection, chattering excitedly as they did. Grozz and Charr carried the larger pieces of equipment, while Dizzy operated the heavy machinery. Rieve used the Force to lift and position objects in place.
Back at the apartment, Sprocket sat watching the progress from the window. J-3DI whirred around joyfully, buzzing about the rebuilt Arena. Skora and her sons kept him company, chatting and offering distractions, but he couldn't shake the quiet ache in his chest. The weight of everything that had happened still lingered inside of him.
Meanwhile, Aran Tal handed out flyers for donations to help rebuild the Arena. It seemed as though everyone had a part to play.
Abruptly, Sprocket's attention was drawn to the horizon. In the distance, two Mon Calamari figures were walking toward the construction site. His heart almost leaped out of his chest.
"Mom... Dad? Is that you?" Sprocket whispered, his voice barely audible. For a moment, hope surged in him, overwhelming the doubt that had settled in for years. But as the figures grew closer, he realized they were just a pair of construction workers, not his parents. His chest tightened with disappointment.
"Why did I even expect them to show up here, anyway?" he muttered to himself as tears welled up in his eyes.
Rieve noticed the change in his demeanor and stepped closer to him, as if offering her presence as a comfort. "Are you okay?" she checked.
Sprocket took a deep breath, trying to gather himself. "Yeah, I'm fine... I just thought, after all this time… Maybe my parents would have forgiven me," he said with a sigh. "I miss my family."
There was a long pause as Sprocket gazed out at the horizon, his heart aching with the absence of the people he longed for. The memories of his parents haunted him, but so did the growing realization that they may never return to him. He silently wondered if he would ever see them again.
"I'd be upset, too," Rieve said gently. "But from what I've seen, you can handle almost anything. Maybe you don't need their forgiveness to move forward. You've built something incredible here, Sprocket. You've found your place. This is where you belong."
"I guess you're right." Sprocket nodded, wiping the tears from his face. Rieve's words had given him some comfort, and he was grateful for that.
When he looked up again, he saw Skora, Grozz, Rieve, Sentinel, and Dizzy all waiting for him, their presence filling the room with warmth as they all looked at him. They weren't just his teammates—they were his family now.
The Arena was finally free from the clutches of the Imperial Remnants, and Hale's reign was over. For now, the future of the Arena looked brighter than ever. As Sprocket stood there, surrounded by his friends—his family—he felt a warmth unlike anything he had felt in a long time.
He looked around at his friends. Each of them had played a crucial part in his journey, a part of the family he'd built along the way. Everything he had gone through, all the sacrifices he had made, all of the hardships he'd been through—and all of the pain—it had all been worth it.
In the light of the setting Vespaara sun, Sprocket smiled. He had never been happier. Everything had led to this moment. And for the first time in his life, he felt like he was exactly where he was meant to be. He felt like he finally belonged. Despite all of his struggles, he had made it here, and he had earned his place among the other Hunters.
And he wouldn't have had it any other way.
—-END
Epilogue
An Imperial Star Destroyer loomed in a desolate, dark corner of the galaxy, where no light seemed to shine. The ship drifted aimlessly through the abyss, its silhouette barely visible against the vast, cold expanse of space. Inside the ship's bridge, the air was thick with tension. The dim light of the control panels was the only source of illumination, casting long shadows across the room's darkened metallic surfaces.
Grand Admiral Thrawn sat upon his throne, his eyes cold and calculating as he fixed them on the distant stars shimmering in the void of space before him. His hands rested calmly on the armrests of his throne, one of them subtly toying with a bishop chess piece. Standing beside him was a Stormtrooper, his stance rigid and disciplined.
The only noise that could be heard was the soft hum of the ship's systems—until the Stormtrooper broke the silence.
"We haven't been given an update from Hale," the trooper reported, his voice low, echoing slightly in the emptiness of the room.
Thrawn shifted his gaze from the stars, his expression unreadable. "That's expected," he replied smoothly. "However, he has given us enough so that we may learn about the greatest warriors in the galaxy. Especially regarding… the remaining Jedi." He stood up and walked closer to the window of the ship. "Perhaps I might send someone to observe that young Mon Calamari. I wish to learn all I can about him."
"Is there a reason for that, sir?" The trooper tilted his head curiously.
Thrawn's fingers fiddled with the bishop piece between his fingers, a subtle smile playing on his lips as he admired the complexities of the galaxy's unfolding events. "There is always a reason," he said softly, the weight of his words cutting through the air like a knife. "I foresee a conflict, not just of weapons or soldiers, but of ideas—of intellects. It will be a battle of great minds."
His crimson eyes narrowed as he gazed into the empty void before him, as if he were lost in some distant thought of the future. "And," he added, his voice lowering to a murmur, "I suspect that he and I are not so different after all."
Bonus Chapter: Water Arena
One year after the Arena's liberation, Sprocket's vision for a new battleground had become a reality. He designed an arena inspired by Glee Anselm, incorporating elements from both Kamino and Mon Cala. The aquatic landscape would draw in Hunters from across the galaxy and he was sure they'd be eager to test their skills in the unique underwater environment.
Aran Tal stood at the edge of the pool. "Water? Pft, I'm not afraid to show the galaxy that I can be the best swimmer!" he boasted, before launching himself into the pool. He surfaced, grinning widely. "See?" he declared, puffing out his chest with pride.
Nearby, Skora guided her kids into the water, teaching them how to swim with Sprocket's help. Sentinel watched from a distance, maintaining his usual stoicism. "I'm an exceptional swimmer too," he claimed, though no one had ever seen him step foot in the water.
Grozz stood by the pool's edge somewhat hesitantly. He glanced nervously at the water, as if pondering whether or not he should step in. He mumbled something and Zaina gave him a nudge, offering a smile of encouragement. With a reluctant grunt, Grozz dipped a foot in, and soon enough, he was paddling through the water with ease.
Rieve leaned against a wall, her arms crossed as she observed everyone. "Next time, I'll be ready," she muttered, her voice sounding agitated. "My outfit's not suited for this… and my lightsaber doesn't work underwater, anyway."
Sprocket, seeking a moment of peace, found a quiet corner of the pool and slipped into the cool water with J-3DI hovering nearby. It had been ages since he left his home planet, and now, surrounded by this artificial ocean, he allowed himself a moment of solace.
A Mon Calamari family approached, catching his eye. They stood on the pool's edge, hesitating before stepping forward. Sprocket looked at them, his eyes rounding with curiosity.
"Our son just signed up for the next season of Hunters!" the Mon Calamari mother beamed.
Sprocket grinned, pushing himself out of the water to stand. "That's awesome! I'm sure he'll do great!" he said in excitement.
The son nodded shyly, but it was his younger sister who caught Sprocket's attention. She waved eagerly and then walked over, handing him a small present and a letter. Sprocket blinked in surprise—it was Luri, his childhood friend. He hadn't seen her in a number of years.
He opened the letter and began to read it. By the time he finished reading, his cheeks had warmed with a blush. Luri winked at him playfully, and Sprocket looked down, suddenly feeling embarrassed.
As he sat, lost in thought, daydreaming about the past, he felt a familiar presence. When he turned, there they were—his parents. But as his eyes adjusted, he realized it wasn't really them. He had only imagined them. Forget them, Sprocket, he told himself.
He turned to see that it was really Dizzy standing behind him, with J-3DI beside him, both of them staring at him with pride. Skora seemed to be saying something funny, which made them all laugh out loud. Sprocket smiled and headed over to join them, ridding his mind of his parents as he did so.
You don't need them. You have all you need right here, Sprocket thought as he looked back at his friends, realizing that he now felt closer to them than ever. They were more than just his teammates now, they truly were his new family.
That night, Sprocket returned to his apartment. He climbed into his custom-made water tube and opened Luri's gift. Inside was a fuzzy, glowing-pink sea sponge, reminiscent of one he might've had on Mon Cala. He smiled, rubbing it against his face as he felt the soft, familiar texture of it.
As he leaned back into the warm water, he placed a group photo next to his tub. It was a picture of him and his Hunter friends, a reminder of how far he'd come—and a reminder of his new life. For the first time in a long time, Sprocket felt truly happy.
He gazed at the ceiling, letting out a content sigh. He finally belonged somewhere—and he couldn't be happier. He was surrounded by his new family, and he knew that at this very moment, nothing else mattered. For once in his life, he was sure that everything was going to be alright.
Finally feeling at peace in the warm water, Sprocket closed his eyes and smiled, knowing that the future ahead of him was undoubtedly going to be bright.
The End.
Black & White Cover Neon Portrait Cover
Author Note: Prologue, J-3DI's Origin and Reborn chapter written by AzureMenace. Epilogue written by Rex. Thank you Rex and AzureMenace for all your hardwork and helping me create a great fanfic.
