Twenty pillars, twenty monsters, and twenty rebels destined to die. None of the Geonosians watching in the stands above expected the rebels to survive. Some would be killed going for weapons, others ripped apart by the hulking monsters, and maybe some would even commit suicide, refusing to go on. But all would be forced to kill. Maybe they would do it for no reason, but most would fight because they were desperate to win. To live.

One would survive: the one who was strong enough to make it through the trials and emerge from the bloodbath victorious. That was what these people were here for, but none of the rebels cared about that. Least of all Kiernan.

He couldn't see the monster behind him, and he could barely move his arms, but he could see the arena. He could see the destroyed gunship in the middle, and he could see the others' companions caged above it. They were exposed, waiting for the monsters to finish eating the rebels and move on to their desert.

Kazumi was up there somewhere. He could almost sense her, trapped and desperate. She was like a whole other force inside of him, wild, but somehow his friend and companion as well. Their bond was unique, and he treasured that. Leaving her wasn't an option, so he had to figure out how to save her.

His hands gripped the chain, using the muscles he'd built from years of slavery to bend the links apart until he was almost free. Whatever he'd been injected with made him strong, but it was only temporary, and it was draining out of him already. He lost his grip and his hands dropped, muscles burning. The metal was too strong. He wasn't going to break it on his own.

Something big slammed into his pillar and let out a long, angry howl. The other monsters joined in, the force of the noise shaking the arena. Most sand and dust filled the air, choking him. He wiped the dust away from his eyes and blinked, trying to clear his vision. His chains dangled in front of him, broken by the monster that attacked him.

He turned to face it, and it bellowed in his face, nearly knocking him over. In front of him stood a massive reek with three iron-tipped tusks and eyes full of hatred.

Kiernan wasn't ready when it attacked again, slamming into him and tossing him into a pillar. His head cracked against it, leaving him dazed. He dragged himself to his feet, using the pillar for balance, and fought to remain conscious. The sun beat down on him, the heat adding to his weakness and causing him to stumble. His vision began to dip and sway, making him dizzy.

The reek charged again, but he collapsed under it, landing next to the half-eaten body of a young, human female. He looked up just as it ran over him, miraculously managing to miss him with its huge feet. He rolled to his feet and tried to ignore what head-butting a pillar had probably done to him. Although he was tough and knew he could get through it if the reek didn't gore him, he didn't exactly enjoy the pain. For my sister. For Kazumi, and for those who need me. I'll survive this for them.

By this time, the reek was done focusing on one person, and headed straight for the gunship in the middle, ready for easier prey. It stalked towards them, gaining speed and momentum, and bellowing angrily. Kiernan saw its destination. Adrenaline rushed through him as he ran straight for it and launched himself onto its back, pulling himself forward to sit on its neck. His eyes registered an ugly scar there, but he ignored it.

The reek didn't notice him until he pulled out a small hold-out blaster and shot the ground directly in front of it. It balked, skidding along the ground as it tried to turn too quickly. He was thrown from its back and landed with a dull thud on the ground. His vision blackened, and he knew he was losing consciousness, but his mind was elsewhere.

He stood in a huge stable of sorts, surrounded by reeks of all sizes. Most of them were normal, but a couple had been fed meat earlier so his master could show off their reactions to it. They were in the middle of a pen, surrounding a small reek. It wasn't even an adult, but his master had still left it to the others' mercy, bleeding and helpless. Something about the situation made Kiernan think twice about walking by. He sighed. Sometimes he just couldn't help himself.

The reeks attacking the little one weren't adults either, but they were close enough and plenty dangerous. Kiernan didn't plan to fight them, however, he just wanted to distract them and lure them away long enough to save the baby. He ran for the storage area and came back with two hunks of meat.

He tied a rope around them and threw them at the reeks. Both hit their marks, and the reeks turned on the first thing they saw: the meat. Kiernan yanked it away from them as fast as he could and watched as they chased after it. Leaving them to devour the meat, he ran for the baby, hauling it out of the pen and slamming the gate closed just as the reeks came at him."I'm going to call you Naru," he said as he escaped.

Naru had grown up with a scar on its neck. A scar exactly like the one he'd just seen. I never thought I would see Naru again, but if I'm right... A plan began to form.

He scrambled out of the way, trying to avoid the reek, but it was too close. It slammed into something just before it hit him, and came to a complete stop. Shaking itself off, it tried to attack again, but Kiernan was already moving out of the way.

A yellow-skinned Mirialan holding a lightsaber stepped out from behind a pillar, a look in intense concentration on his face. "Your welcome. Stopping that thing is exhausting."

"You did that? You're force-sensitive?" Kiernan asked.

The man nodded, and Kiernan eyed the seething reek. "Can you calm it down? I need to talk to it."

"Really? Your solution is to talk to the beast that is trying to murder you? You're going to die very quickly if you try that on everything."

Kiernan rolled his eyes. "Just calm it down, please. It's probably easier than trying to stop it with the force."

Finally, the Mirialan nodded. "Fine."

Tossing Kiernan a blaster, he said, "Make sure no one kills me, okay?"

Kiernan nodded and took the weapon, looking for anyone who might harm them. Most of the rebels were busy fighting off the other monsters or trying to free their companions, however, so they were relatively safe. He knew he should be over there, protecting Kazumi, but he couldn't leave this reek to attack him from behind. If only he could get it to remember the time he spent nursing it back to health and teaching it to fight. He'd spared its life once, practically raised it. Maybe now it would return the favor.

The man, who Kiernan had by now decided was the Sith he remembered hearing something about, raised his hand. He extended it, palm out, towards the reek, who immediately stopped trying to fight and gave him a puzzled look. For a moment, the reek seemed to try and fight him, but then it settled and Kiernan approached it.

"Hey Naru," he muttered. "Remember me?"

Naru snorted and shook its head, almost as if it knew what Kiernan was saying. He laid a hand on its tough, reddened skin, and looked up at it. I swear if you let Naru attack me again, Sith, I will make sure you get hit instead of me, he thought. Just keep him calm.

"I saved you once and got my master to spare your life. I stuck around for a few years before running away and abandoning you. I'm sorry for that. I know they mistreated you and they did everything they could to make you lash out, but I'm asking you, if you're still the Naru I know, to help me. You don't have to stop fighting but fight for me. Please."

It was a nice enough speech, but Kiernan wasn't sure Naru had understood any of it. Still, he motioned to the Sith. "Okay, you can stop now."

"Are you sure? I'd rather not be this beast's next dinner."

"It's not a beast," Kiernan snapped. "It's an old friend. Just trust me. It should be safe now... I think."

With a sigh, the Sith lowered his arm. Naru stood still for a few moments, and then its eyes locked on him. Still, it didn't attack.

Kiernan stayed where he was, his hand still resting on the reek's leg. "Will you help us?" he asked.

Naru snorted, and since he wasn't dead yet, Kiernan decided to interpret that as a yes. Everything was going fine until Naru charged forward suddenly, letting out a wild battle cry. Kiernan dove for the Sith and yanked him out of the way as it moved past them and launched itself at a rebel who was approaching from behind. It snapped its head forward and gored the rebel on its horns, flinging her across the sand and trampling her.

For a moment, all Kiernan could do was stare at the body of a Togruta female. The Sith waved a hand in front of his face. "Hey, I don't know who you are, but this thing seems to obey you, so do something before I have to save you again."

Kiernan blinked and nodded. Turning toward the middle, he spotted Sul-Juuk fighting a huge blixus. It looked like she was losing too. He glanced at Naru, who was apparently awaiting its orders.

She captured you repeatedly. You don't have to save her. He would have listened to that side of his mind, except he knew her, and he knew that if they were in danger, they could both trust each other with their lives. She would save him, if only to get the profit out of it later, and he knew he would help her now because she had a daughter who cared about her, and, somewhere deep inside, he cared about her too.

"Get the blixus," Kiernan commanded. He was a bit surprised when Naru actually ran off to do that. When he turned, however, the Sith had disappeared, leaving him with the blaster.

Since the reek was occupied with the blixus, he headed for the middle, his purpose solidifying him and giving him strength. I'm coming Kazumi.

Most of the tributes had taken care of their monsters by now or been killed by them. Now they headed for the middle to release their companions. When he got there, he spotted Kazumi trapped in a cage above the gunship. It didn't take long to climb up onto the roof, and the blaster made short work of the lock on the cage. He let her hop into his arms and hugged her close. "Sorry I took so long," he whispered.

A childlike scream pierced the air, and his head whipped up. He let Kazumi down and headed for the sound. He recognized the voice of Kim-Ny and then heard Sul-Juuk pleading for her daughter's life.

"Don't kill her," she said. "Take me instead if you like, but spare her life."

Kiernan hid around a corner and watched for a moment to figure out what was going on. A Zabrak stood facing away from him, holding a blaster to Kim-Ny's head. Sul-Juuk stared at him, a mix of hatred, anger, and desperation concealed in her expression.

He hesitated. She could hate you if you try to help and get Kim-Ny killed. He wasn't sure why he cared what Sul-Juuk thought of him. Maybe because, much like a parent is supposed to do, she never let go of him. Even if her reasons were very different. Still, he couldn't leave Kim-Ny to die if he had a chance to help.

Slipping around the corner, he motioned to Kazumi, using a signal he'd taught her so she would know to alert him if anyone tried to sneak up on him. She sat down to play sentry and he approached the Zabrak, who was busy laughing at Sul-Juuk.

"A tempting offer. I might take that option."

"No!" Kim-Ny screamed, struggling.

The Zabrak's grip tightened, and Kiernan suppressed a snarl of anger. This Zabrak is a disgrace, hurting an innocent child like that.

He stepped smoothly into position, thankful that Sul-Juuk hadn't given him away. Pressing the hold-out blaster to the Zabrak's head, he leaned forward. "Let's play a new game. You let the girl go and I consider letting you live."

"You try it and I'll kill the girl."

"What's your name?" Kiernan asked.

"Mission."

"Well, Mission, would you like to bet on who shoots first?" Kiernan murmured. "Because I'd bet against you surviving either way. Trust me when I say that you don't want to face Sul-Juuk if you kill her child."

Mission pushed Kim-Ny away from him and swung around, pointing his own blaster at Kiernan. He get a chance to shoot. Kiernan's bold cut right through Mission's head. He collapsed, blood oozing from the wound, and Sul-Juuk pulled Kim-Ny away before she could see it.

Kazumi let out a low growl and he turned. A rathtar was charging at them, tentacles flailing. Kim-Ny screamed just as Naru came out of nowhere, slamming into it from the side and distracting it.

He started toward Naru, ready to help, but Sul-Juuk pulled him back. "No Kiernan. I don't know why the reek is helping, but let it fight. You can't take the rathtar on and live."

Kiernan nodded and picked up the blaster. "Here."

She nodded and took it. "We need to find something for Kim-Ny, and we may as well stick around anyway. This is the most easily defensible area, and there's cover."

"Everyone will be coming for their friends, Sul-Juuk. They're right above us, we can't just keep them from protecting their loved ones," Kiernan argued. "Plus there are still monsters out there. Do you really think they're just going to leave this gunship alone? In their minds, there's plenty of trapped prey in there waiting to be eaten, which makes it the perfect target."

Sul-Juuk frowned but nodded. "Fine, but we go out the other way, and we find a corner or something to defend, or we could be attacked on all sides."

Kim-Ny knelt and grabbed another blaster. Her voice shook, but she put on a brave face as she spoke. "Let's go get 'em then."