POW 2125: Anthologies, Part IIn a prison somewhere on Aethra…
The prisoner thought that he was going to his execution. Instead, he found himself staring into the face of one of the top generals in the Aethran military. He knew this man, of course, although they had only met in the flesh once. This man was one of the top generals at the time the prisoner had first been sent off to do battle in a ring several years ago. He told the prisoner to make his race proud. And the prisoner had tried. But the shifting winds of fate had instead landed the prisoner in his cell, and the general had sailed through unscathed, even more powerful than he had been before.
The general sized up the prisoner. “You’ve lost muscle,” he noted. “That’s a problem we’ll have to fix.”
The confused look on the prisoner’s face must have been obvious to the general, because he continued, “You wonder why I say that, do you? Have a look.”
The lights went down and a holovid appeared on the table before him. It was of a mixed martial arts battle. One competitor looked unfamiliar, but the other – even though the prisoner didn’t know his name, the man’s race was obvious.
Thracian!
After about half a minute, the holovid ended and the lights came back up. The prisoner hazarded a question. “Why are you showing me this?” he asked warily.
The general smiled widely, but viciously. As he stood, he gave his answer. “Simple. You’re being given a second chance. But make no mistake. If you fail…” He gestured around him. “Well, let’s just say your second stay in this facility won’t last as long.”
The general nodded knowingly. The prisoner got the message. “Guards!” the general barked. “Lower the field!”
The force field immediately lowered and the guards re-entered, seizing the prisoner as they had before. As the prisoner was being led away, the general spoke once more, with a final parting instruction. “Crush the enemies of Aethra!”
With that, the general pushed a button and the larger guards returned. The guard saluted his superior officer. “What orders now, sir?”
“Get me the other two that we spoke about earlier. It’s time to issue the POW a wakeup call. They still might be a second-rate fed, but they are about to feel the Gladiators’ RAGE…”
The Gladiators of AethraThe Gladiators of Aethra have traditionally competed exclusively in the GWF to prove their dominance over the rest of the known galaxies. They want to prove that they are the best combatants and only send their top fighters to the GWF. The CPC/POW was always seen by Aethrans as the second best federation and therefore not worthy of their interest. The entrance of the Thracians in 2124 changed that line of thought. The Overmaster authorized a team of Gladiators to be sent to the POW to put the entire planet of Thrace in its place. While he refused to send his top wrestling prospects, he allowed three “problems” to be sent to the POW to rehabilitate themselves and earn their freedom in the ring. These Gladiators have trained for a year to this end. Nothing less than crushing their enemies will be enough.
For those who thought that the Gladiators would send a female to even the teams, the Gladiators chose a different course. They always force their enemies to react to them. Instead of being in an even matchup, the Gladiators have the numbers in their favor, even with the arrival of Assur to the Thracian team. In addition, they insult the matriarchal society on Thrace by refusing to acknowledge the ranking female, the worst insult possible in Thracian culture.
Rage – The GWF veteran is out from behind bars and headed to the POW. Rage had a perfectly good start to his career in the GWF. While many speculated that his political leanings were to blame, Aethran insiders insist that he was recalled to Aethra because he simply did not dominate the competition.
He has been training non-stop since his release from prison in early 2124. The Aethran Overmaster is solidifying his power base and has allowed his subordinate the opportunity to redeem Rage’s reputation among the Aethran people. None of his would have been possible if not for the arrival of Mistress Naraka and Marduuk in the POW. Aethrans hate failure, but they hate Thrace even more. It was felt that this team needed an experienced presence to assure victory. Rage is determined to take advantage of his opportunity by winning gold and proving that he deserved his second chance. Rage now has two submission finishers. ALL THE RAGE is a head and arm choke triangle. RESISTANCE IS FUTILE is a twister spine crank.
Torment – Torment trained in the traditional Aethran style of wrestling and was widely regarded as a future GWF superstar. However, when passed over for a promotion in the rankings, he hit an AETHRAN POWERBOMB on his instructor. That landed him in an Aethran prison.
Torment is the mouthpiece of the group due to his experience and the fact that Rage is more interested in talking with his actions. He is a versatile wrestler who can excel in either singles or tag team action. While his MMA experience is light compared to other members of his team, he believes that his wrestling skills will cause problems for anyone he competes against, regardless of their style. In singles matches, he finishes off his opponents with the AETHRAN POWERBOMB (a running gutwrench powerbomb). In tag action, he prefers THUNDERSTRUCK. Torment’s partner (it can be either Rage or Category Five since they have all been training together for a year) executes a drop toe hold while Torment hits the opponent high with a spear off the top turnbuckle.
Category Five – Category Five has everything Aethrans look for in their fighters: good technique with an arrogant and dominating personality. Unfortunately, he is missing one thing: size. On Aethra, boys his size are usually put to death or made to be servants. Category Five refused this and trained on his own to be a fighter. This is a “Category Five” offense on Aethra for striving to be above your station. Category Five gladly took the prison sentence as it gave him an opportunity to fight more.
Category Five is a good striker, and will excel against the smaller competitors in the POW. He sometimes gets caught attempting moves that will not work on larger opponents. Any move that is followed by a “*” will not work against wrestlers weighing 226 pounds or more. The opponent takes over on level 2 offense. He likes to humiliate opponents by finishing them with HURRICANE FORCE, a series of mounted punches to the face. Like some of his other moves, it is much more effective against smaller opponents.