The Final Showdown

Posted on Tue Apr 17th, 2018 @ 6:21am by Commander Bertrand Cuprum & Lieutenant JG Scotty Kayne

Mission: Of Machines and Men
Location: The area

The field was clear again when Scotty appeared. All of his colleagues were gone, assumedly in suspended stasis. In front of him was an open field, with no cover or weaponry. his own phaser had gone and he was feeling very exposed when the opponent, the reigning champion, Arkelba, appeared.

Arkelba was all of four foot high and looked like some form of simian. He had thin purple fur which was balding in patches and he looked old, uncomfortably old. He smiled at Scotty and spread his hands wide.

"Hello," it said simply it's voice cracking. "I haven't met one of you before. What are you called?"

"I'm a human, form a planet called Earth," he said, "As you might've heard, I'm Lieutenant Junior Grade Scotty Kayne, I'm assuming you're Arkelba?"

"Earth? Sol 3?" Arkelba frowned. "I haven't been back there since the comet. I am so pleased you all recovered. You are... less scaly than I anticipated. But, yes, I am Arkelba, a Vetus."

"I'm from a Starship in orbit, the USS Victory, we're trying to establish diplomatic relations with you, when we got pulled into this maniacal tournament," he said, with concern in his voice, he had regrets for what he had done in this arena, and was trying a more diplomatic solution, "We're a race of Explorers, and we mean you no harm," Scotty added.

"With me?" the wizened Vetus asked. "Oh, no. I am not a local here. No, I came here towards the end of their civilization. They had all but fallen into decadence when i got here. the Games were really the only thing they had going still and they were entirely automated. Their resources were gone, and their people were indolent to the point of decay. Those that had the strength of will left joined the games themselves. The rest sat and rotted in front of the view screens. I doubt there are any of them left now. Except those who have been stored by the game."

"That's what the game is programed to do. Find the ultimate champion of the galaxy. A simple oversight to not place any sort of time constraint on that, or limit it to certain races. Still, I have found ti pleasant enough. Wake up every few hundred years for a short chat before killing someone, and then back to stasis storage."

"Eventually the sun will burn out. It is already looking decidedly red and swollen. Then the system will fail and I'll move on. I was 4 billion years old before I got to the games. I can wait a few more million. Shall we?"

"You mean, whoever lost the games is stuck here?" Scotty asked, readying himself, "What happens to them all?"

The Vetus shrugged, "They're still there. 1,338,550 or so contestants, spanning over 858,767 years since the games first opened. Every one of them locked in perpetual stasis till a final winner is decided. After a group is integrated into the game, the contestant fight it out till one of them is left to face the reigning champion, me. After that, we all go back to stasis and the cycle continues. I assume most of them are unaware of the time passing at all. Some of them are in for a big shock when they wake up. Would you like first swing?"

"I want out of here, along with my friends, returned to our starship," Scotty said. "I don't want to fight you at all."

"oh, dear." The Vetus responded stepping forward. "Unless your ship is willing to wait for the Sun to burn out to collect you, I really don;t think that is going to happen. As for not fighting me..."

He produced two devices from his belt.

"I watched the games for years before entering," he explained. "Watched how the drones fought and moved, and that everyone was beamed in with a drone bearing the exact same equipment they had on them. So I built these. This one shields my drone from the effects of this one, which shuts off all drones in the arena, like this."

There was a flash and Scotty's drone fell to the ground dead.

"Pitty," the Vetus muttered. I get so little time to chat any more.