It had not taken long for the fans to figur out that the next match would be Viking versus Shaolin monk, especially considering that the social media department had published the fight the day after.
If the first matches had caused endless debates, these were nothing compared to the debate that this upcoming match. Little time was spend at arguing about how realistic the fight between the Koa and the Aboriginal was, as most people were yelling at each other on the internet. Whole fora were full of discussions on who would win and many youtubers tried to give their own expert opinion on the matter.
Fred read one of the discussions with a broad smile. He had tried to read and watch as much as possible on the subject and it was all very entertaining. He had hoped that people would take these matches as serieus but only now could he see the effects that his show had on people.
The fans of the Shaolin Argued that the monk would win, because he was an expert martial artist who had trained his entire life to fight and was much smarter and calmer. Concensus was that the monk would get his opponent mad and then punish the warrior for the mistakes he was going to make.
The viking fans on the other hand thought that the small monk would surely be overpowered by the bigger and stronger berserker.
Fred looked at the camera displaying the cells. The monk had been silent the entire him he was inprisoned and now sat calmly in his cell. He had been no problem at all and would do whatever told with a simple nod. Fred could not say if he had just accepted his fate or was planning something. The viking on the other hand was a polar opposite. He had been aggressive when he was first captured and had tried to break out of his cell multiple times. Altough he now was less aggressive, Fred still did not trust him and always made sure that there were extra guards around if the viking had to be moved.
The big viking reminded Fred of another problem that they were having recently. Several female staffmembers and a few males ones had asked for some alone time with a few of the warriors. Fred had said no every time but a few members of staff had been caught trying to get into some of the cells.
Fred was not sure what to think of it and did not fancy his warriors being used in such a way, but he understood peoples needs. Everyone on the island was forbidden by contract to leave without direct permission from either him or Atthe. He was so worried that people found out about what actually happened here that he did not allow it. Ofcourse there had been speculation on what happened was real or not and the fact that nobody on the show answered any of these questions made it more myserieus. He did not want people to actually find out. That would not only hurt the ratings but chances are that soldiers would enter the island again. First he needed to have ths island become its own little nation, under the protection of the US, then maybe it would matter less that people found out about the real fights going on.
'I should talk to Atthe about the urges of people on the island, maybe something could be arranged.' Fred spoke to himself. Then he could figur out the rest.
'Have you researched the possibilities?' Fred asked. At the table with him sat his wife Atthe, John, Omar and the maffiaboss Mr. Leono.
'Yes.' John answered. There are a lot tv shows that once aired and that we could air. Some shows we even could continue. We can make it in some sort of warrior history channel.' He added. 'We also found some youtubers who could potentially host some of the shows, altough we either have to let them do that at home or bring them to the island.' Came the comment of Omar.
'How about financiall?' Fred inquired. This time it was his wife who answered. 'Looking at everything, it would not be too costly and in fact would gain us money in the second year'
That was all that he wanted. 'What is your opinion? The man asked the don. As one of the two moneyshooters, he also had a say in what was going on. 'Yeah I will cover the cost, sounds like a good plan.' Was the answer. Fred had expected the answer to be as such, but he still wanted to ask.
'Well then Atthe. Will you set it up with John?' He asked. His wife nodded, knowing that now she was full responsible for its creation.
'Fight four is about to begin and the warriors could not be different.' Seth started in the new episode of The Arena. 'Our first fighter comes all the way from the frozen north. He has been known as a pillager and a rapist. A destroyer of towns and a wildebeast against innocent people.' Seth allowed a moment of silence to fall before he yelled. 'It is none other then the Viking Berserker.' At moments like these, Seth would like to have an audiance as he wanted to see the reactions from the people watching. However they only could look at him, not the other way around. Not that it was a bad thing that they could look at him, he was dashing and handsome after all.
'Where the viking likes to kill monks, our other fighter is a monk who fights back.' The host started his introduction of the opponent. 'From the beautiful east, this monk is a martial art master who trains his entire life in the arts of kung fu. Fighting raiders and protecting the weak, this man of peace will be a deadly opponent. If you have not guessed it, I am talking about the Shaolin monk.
Han Liu looked at the weapons before him. Altough everything around him was weird ever since he had been kidnapped from the temple, at least these weapons were familiar. Han was no killer however and did not like to take another man's life. He had only killed bandits when the man had no other choise and had punished himself every single time. Now it seemed that fate had brought the young Shaolin in this arena, where he had to kill his opponent to return to the temple.
The monk did not know who is opponent would be and therefore was unsure what for weapons to bring. Han Liu decided on a spade for medium distance combat, a broadsword for close fighting and finally a Emei dagger for very personal combat.
With the weapons chosen and mentally prepared for what was to come, Han Liu stepped through the door and onto an open field.
A quick peek at the guards and their weapons discouraged Einar to attack them. It was so tempting with the weapons here but he knew that there were more of these guys and they all could kill from a distance without a bow. Growling, the warrior looked at the weapons displayed. He would kill this enemy and look for another good chance to escape. One thing was for sure. Einar would not die a prisoner, but as a warrior so he could join his father and brother and he too could dine in valhalla.
After picking the Dane axe and a Seax, Einar stepped on the grass of the open field,
A big brute, this could be interesting. Han Liu thought
The viking smiled. 'A monk, this would be easy.' He spoke to himself. With his axe ready he ran towards the smaller opponent.
The two met at the middle of the field and the weapons hit each other. Monks spade versus dane axe. Han Liu was able to hit his opponent several times, inflicting light wounds as he danced around the axe. As the axe hooked around the spade, Han Liu was able to move his weapon away and hit the chest of the viking, which was covered with wolfsfur and did little damage, The back of the axe however, flew towards the monk and hit him straight in the face, breaking the nose of the shaolin and sending him rolling in the grass. Seeing an opening, Einar charged at his target and moved his axe in a downwards arc. Before he could hit the monk, the other guy rolled away and jumped on his feet. Using the spade as pole, he kicked the viking away.
The weapons clashed with each other again. As Han Liu was able to dodge most of the attacks of his opponent, Einar was able to block the attacks or endured minor wounds on his arms and legs. Once the berserker overextended and Han Liu was able to hit the head, only for the spade to glance off the helmet.
'These two are really well matched.' Fred said to everybody in the room. The two have been going on for a short while now, with neither getting a good edge on the opponent or really dominating the battle. The viewer count was also on a alltime high at the moment as everybody tuned in to see this battle.
Han Liu had hoped to tire out his opponent by this point but the man might have been made of stone as the warrior did not show any sign of fatigue. Han himself was still ready to go as well but he feared that he might tire earlier then the other guy. If that happened, the Shaolin knew that he would lose.
The two clashed again and dealt blows but either blocked or dodged the attacks of the opponent.
Einar leaned a little bit too farwards, which have Han Liu the idea to smack the side of the head of his opponent. That helmet would stop damage, but the Shaolin hoped to disorientate his opponent enough to finish the fight. Just before the monk's spade hit the viking, Einar pulled his head backwards and blocked the attack with his dane axe. This did give the viking an idea.
He overextended his next attack on purpose, which the Shalin took advantage off.
The spade came in but the axe blocked the attack. At the same moment, Einar stepped in, grabbed the weapon of his opponent and pulled.
Instead of pulling back, Han Liu releashed his spade. The viking almost lost his footing due to this. Reacting as fast as he could, Han Liu pulled his broadsword and ran towards his opponent. A swift kick to the chest send Einar to the ground and the broadsword hit the helmet as the berserker tried to stand up. Only now Einar felt how tired he was, with the multiple smaller wounds burning. His opponent was holding a sword close to his throat and Einar was prepared to die. He was going to valhalla.
Han Liu was about to kill his opponent. His sword was close to the throat of the big man. He only needed to make a swift strike to kill. But Han could not do it. Years of living in the temple, praising life had its effect on the monk once again. He had already won. Why would he need to kill this opponent who could not fight back anymore. Then again, it was made clear that he had to kill the other man to claim victory and the Shaolin did not know what would happen if he did not kill.
This moment of struglle was enough for Einar to see a chance. Valhalla had to wait as he pulled his Seax and smashed the sword away. Einar then threw the monk on the ground and attacked with his seax.
Han Liu was suprised as the sword got knocked out of his hand. This opponent still was ready to fight it seemed. He then got thrown on the ground and saw his opponent above him holding a large knife. With only his emei dagger left, he thrusted the small weapon into the fur covered chest of the viking, as Einar stepped the chest of the Shaolin several times.
The viking lay on top of the small monk with neither moving and total silence in the room. 'Did they kill each other?' Someone asked. 'What do we do if they are both dead?' Someone else wondered.
Fred just looked at the screen intensly. People would think a double death would be a cop out even if this was not planned at all,
'Give them one more minute. If neither moves, declare a tie and they both lose.' Fred spoke. He hoped himself that one of them would move or give a sign of life.
A small movement could be seen on screen and then slowly someone rose. It was the viking who stood ip, a wound very close to the heart could be seen on his chest, with blood covered fur around him.
'You have seen it here people. Brawn won out against brain this time and the Viking Berserker continues to the next round as the Shaolin monk joins the losers.' Seth spoke. He still had to recover from the event he had just seen and was not prepared at all for this.
'The two were matched really well and I feel this fight could have gone either way.' The host then added.
'Now we have a victor, it is also time to look at the next match up. Who is your money on as the Inuit meets none other then the Aztec Jaguar in combat.' Seth smiled his usual self. 'Do not miss it as it will be another epic match.'
vrijdag 24 februari 2017
zaterdag 11 februari 2017
The Arena. Chapter four: A sandy duel
The second episode had been watched very well again worldwide. Tensions on the internet had flared during the battle and the kill had surprised almost all of the watchers. Again the tournament got praised for its authentic weapons and warrior and again there were people complaining. Some fans of the Sioux complained that a real native american warrior would not react like that. He would not have missed with the bow and arrow the first time and would have won instantly. He would not have thrown his tomahawk that way and would bring more of them to begin with and lastly they complained that he would have been able to either dodge the kpinga or stop the Azande from throwing it.
However these complains were a few among the masses and as before, Fred could only laugh at it.
'Fred.' Atthe suddenly entered his office, followed by John. 'What is wrong?' He asked. 'Several stations around the world caved in to demands and are cancelling showing the Arena.' John stated bluntly. The English man knew that it was always best with Fred to just come forward directly instead of dancing around the subject. He as overseer of the show on tv and it was his responsibility to make sure everythig aired correctly around the globe.
'Why?' Fred asked even though he already knew the answer. 'Some stations are stopping it because not enough people look at it, while others felt too much pressure from parental organisations who call the show distastefull.' John explained.
'But there is a solution.' Atthe added quickly. After a questioning look, the woman continued. 'We can start our own network.' 'Continue.' Fred spoke. 'The only thing is with getting a network that sends out world wide, that we either need to find one channel who does the same and where we can air everything or get a channel of our own.' John spoke up.
This idea intrigued Fred and he asked John to continue. 'Well we would be in full controll of everything ourselfs and we would not have to find a channel who would both be willing and cheap enough. We can fill it with historical docu's and matches If we can buy the rights to things like deadliest warrior and weapons that made brittain, we can fill it up more.' He added.
Fred thought about this for a second. This was a huge step, but then again could be very usefull, especially in the future. 'Very well. Atthe look into the financial side, is it profitable? John see if you possible shows we could purchage and air.' The two nodded and left.
This day had become rather more interesting all of a sudden.
'How is everything looking?' Fred asked Omar. 'Very good.' The Turkish man smiled. 'This next match is hard to decide. In Hawaii we have a high vote for the Koa but in Australia everybody goes for the aboriginal. The rest of the world seems evenly devided.' This next match could go either way and Fred looked forwards to it. Not only would two of the same type of warrior face each other, both also would have some weird weapons.
Kanunu looked at the men next to him. All armed with strang weapons that he would never be able to imagine in his wildest dreams. Now he looked at the weapons available on the table. At least he was familiar with them and knew how to use them. Kanunu had been explained that he was to kill his opponent on a battlefield. The Koa would just do that. He wanted to go home again. He wanted to fish and sail for days when he finally would get back home. He was fishing when these strangers ambushed him. He heard people yelling, turned around and got knocked out. It was later in the cell that someone explained that he had been kidnapped and the purpose of his capture.
Knowing he had to make a choise, Kanunu take a look at the weapons before him. First the warrior picked up a pikoi and wrapped it around his arm. That rope could be rather usefull to distract the opponent. Next was the sharktooth club, this nasty weapon could destroy the opponent from up close. As for the last weapon, Kanunu picked up the polulu. This spear was by far his favorite and the weapon that the koa was most used too. If there was any weapon that would win the battle for him, it was this.
Kanunu nodded to the men that he was done and one opened a door. When the warrior stepped through, he stepped in the sand. Surprised, the Hawaiian looked at the the sun in the sky. Then at the ocean next to him and lastly the sand around his feet. It looked like the warrior was home, yet it felt different. There was something, he could not explain. This was not his home island, that was for sure. A mere imitation. It was at that moment that he spotted his opponent.
Kuparr was ready to fight. He was nervous but ready. Having been dragged here from his people had been surreal. These strangers landed on the beach and Kuparr had watched as all the other warriors got killed by powerful sticks of the gods themselfs. The warrior was prepared to die himself, only to lose conciousness and wake up in this godly world. Still a bit fearfull, he was going to fight for their pleasure because they requested that.
For this battle Kuparr had picked a war boomarang, a boomarang shaped club and a deathstick. This spear was barbed along the sides and the only way out of the body, was right through it. Just before giving the sign that he was ready, the Australian warrior took a shield. You That might work well with the club.
The Aboriginal stepped through the door and felt the seabreeze hit his face. Surprised, the man looked around. He stood on a beach. Kuparr had not long to look around as he saw a man standing opposing him.He threw the shield on the ground, as his club and armed with boomarang and deathstick walked towards his opponent.
Both warriors walked towards each other slowly, weary of the attack of the other. Kuparr started off by throwing his boomarang. The weapon flew through the air but missed the opponent. This was not a boomarang which would come back so the warrior continued to walk forwards holding his spear.
The two spears met in midair as they tried to push the other away, Both had barbing and tried to wound the opponent with either the point or the barbs but the two were matched and failed to hit each other. Kanunu yelled out and managed to push his opponent backwards, hitting the leg slightly and the upper arm of his opponent.
As Kuparr got pushed backwards, he knews that this was not working. Unable to land a good blow, he had to change tactics. Allowing himself to be pushed back further, the man guided his opponent untill they reached his weapons. There he he gave a hard jab that rammed at the stomach of Kanunu. The other flinched for a second, which gave the Aboriginal enough time to pick up his shield and club.
A jab of the spear landed on the shield and the Australian warrior acted fast. Using the curving of his club, the warrior pulled the spear aside and stepped in. The Koa recieved a hard smack in the face with the wooden club and both blood and teeth flew everywhere. The spikes as the side of the club rammed in the side of his opponent but did not much damage now. Another hit to the head followed and Kanunu got dizzy.
A howl brought him back and he headbutted his opponent. This gave the Hawaiian enough time to get out of range of the club. Just when he was far away, the club flew towards him. Trying to dodge and failing, the man got knocked down in the sand.
Kuparr had thrown his club with succes. That was the reason he had picked the boomarang shaped one. Now picking up the deathstick again, the warrior looked to finish the battle. As he walked towards the koa, Kanunu looked up and saw his opponent coming near. Thinking fast, he took the pikoi and threw it at the legs.
The string wrapped itself around the legs of the aboriginal, who fell in the sand. Not sure what just happened, he tried to untangle the ropes but before the man could succeed, the Koa stood above him, holding the sharktooth club.
Kuparr tried to protect his face and both of his arms got slashed by the sharkteeth embedded in the club. This Leiomano then slashed the face of the Australian Aboriginal, followed by several smashes to the head. Kuparr was dead.
'It looks like we have a winner.' Seth said with his trademark smile. 'Who could have guessed that a rope would be that usefull. I really thought that the Koa was a goner.' The young man added. 'Congratulations to the people of Hawaii. Also keep that sharktooth club very far away from me.'He winked as he said that.
'Now I am supposed to tell you the next match but I am not going to do that.' Seth continued. 'Instead I am going to provide hinds.' He found it boring to just announce it and thought that this might be more entertaining. Seth hoped that his boss would not be mad.
'The first warrior is big brutish and would not wish to visit Valhalla soon.' The host said. 'The other is a calm kung fu master who will make the opponent see orange.'
Fred looked at the sea and allowed himself to calm down. Halfway through the match, he had left. The staff knew what to do now so there was no need for him. If there was something Atthe would still be there. Soon he would have his own little nation and a tv station. Things happened so quickly now that he was afraid the same thing would happen as years ago. No he was not allowed to think like that. He was now better prepared and had powefull allies. Thinking he should give the president a call, the man walked back.
On his way to his office, two men were walking past him with a stretcher. On it was the dead body of the Australian warrior. So the Koa had won then. This body would be thrown into a cremating oven, removing all evidence that the man had been here.
However these complains were a few among the masses and as before, Fred could only laugh at it.
'Fred.' Atthe suddenly entered his office, followed by John. 'What is wrong?' He asked. 'Several stations around the world caved in to demands and are cancelling showing the Arena.' John stated bluntly. The English man knew that it was always best with Fred to just come forward directly instead of dancing around the subject. He as overseer of the show on tv and it was his responsibility to make sure everythig aired correctly around the globe.
'Why?' Fred asked even though he already knew the answer. 'Some stations are stopping it because not enough people look at it, while others felt too much pressure from parental organisations who call the show distastefull.' John explained.
'But there is a solution.' Atthe added quickly. After a questioning look, the woman continued. 'We can start our own network.' 'Continue.' Fred spoke. 'The only thing is with getting a network that sends out world wide, that we either need to find one channel who does the same and where we can air everything or get a channel of our own.' John spoke up.
This idea intrigued Fred and he asked John to continue. 'Well we would be in full controll of everything ourselfs and we would not have to find a channel who would both be willing and cheap enough. We can fill it with historical docu's and matches If we can buy the rights to things like deadliest warrior and weapons that made brittain, we can fill it up more.' He added.
Fred thought about this for a second. This was a huge step, but then again could be very usefull, especially in the future. 'Very well. Atthe look into the financial side, is it profitable? John see if you possible shows we could purchage and air.' The two nodded and left.
This day had become rather more interesting all of a sudden.
'How is everything looking?' Fred asked Omar. 'Very good.' The Turkish man smiled. 'This next match is hard to decide. In Hawaii we have a high vote for the Koa but in Australia everybody goes for the aboriginal. The rest of the world seems evenly devided.' This next match could go either way and Fred looked forwards to it. Not only would two of the same type of warrior face each other, both also would have some weird weapons.
Kanunu looked at the men next to him. All armed with strang weapons that he would never be able to imagine in his wildest dreams. Now he looked at the weapons available on the table. At least he was familiar with them and knew how to use them. Kanunu had been explained that he was to kill his opponent on a battlefield. The Koa would just do that. He wanted to go home again. He wanted to fish and sail for days when he finally would get back home. He was fishing when these strangers ambushed him. He heard people yelling, turned around and got knocked out. It was later in the cell that someone explained that he had been kidnapped and the purpose of his capture.
Knowing he had to make a choise, Kanunu take a look at the weapons before him. First the warrior picked up a pikoi and wrapped it around his arm. That rope could be rather usefull to distract the opponent. Next was the sharktooth club, this nasty weapon could destroy the opponent from up close. As for the last weapon, Kanunu picked up the polulu. This spear was by far his favorite and the weapon that the koa was most used too. If there was any weapon that would win the battle for him, it was this.
Kanunu nodded to the men that he was done and one opened a door. When the warrior stepped through, he stepped in the sand. Surprised, the Hawaiian looked at the the sun in the sky. Then at the ocean next to him and lastly the sand around his feet. It looked like the warrior was home, yet it felt different. There was something, he could not explain. This was not his home island, that was for sure. A mere imitation. It was at that moment that he spotted his opponent.
Kuparr was ready to fight. He was nervous but ready. Having been dragged here from his people had been surreal. These strangers landed on the beach and Kuparr had watched as all the other warriors got killed by powerful sticks of the gods themselfs. The warrior was prepared to die himself, only to lose conciousness and wake up in this godly world. Still a bit fearfull, he was going to fight for their pleasure because they requested that.
For this battle Kuparr had picked a war boomarang, a boomarang shaped club and a deathstick. This spear was barbed along the sides and the only way out of the body, was right through it. Just before giving the sign that he was ready, the Australian warrior took a shield. You That might work well with the club.
The Aboriginal stepped through the door and felt the seabreeze hit his face. Surprised, the man looked around. He stood on a beach. Kuparr had not long to look around as he saw a man standing opposing him.He threw the shield on the ground, as his club and armed with boomarang and deathstick walked towards his opponent.
Both warriors walked towards each other slowly, weary of the attack of the other. Kuparr started off by throwing his boomarang. The weapon flew through the air but missed the opponent. This was not a boomarang which would come back so the warrior continued to walk forwards holding his spear.
The two spears met in midair as they tried to push the other away, Both had barbing and tried to wound the opponent with either the point or the barbs but the two were matched and failed to hit each other. Kanunu yelled out and managed to push his opponent backwards, hitting the leg slightly and the upper arm of his opponent.
As Kuparr got pushed backwards, he knews that this was not working. Unable to land a good blow, he had to change tactics. Allowing himself to be pushed back further, the man guided his opponent untill they reached his weapons. There he he gave a hard jab that rammed at the stomach of Kanunu. The other flinched for a second, which gave the Aboriginal enough time to pick up his shield and club.
A jab of the spear landed on the shield and the Australian warrior acted fast. Using the curving of his club, the warrior pulled the spear aside and stepped in. The Koa recieved a hard smack in the face with the wooden club and both blood and teeth flew everywhere. The spikes as the side of the club rammed in the side of his opponent but did not much damage now. Another hit to the head followed and Kanunu got dizzy.
A howl brought him back and he headbutted his opponent. This gave the Hawaiian enough time to get out of range of the club. Just when he was far away, the club flew towards him. Trying to dodge and failing, the man got knocked down in the sand.
Kuparr had thrown his club with succes. That was the reason he had picked the boomarang shaped one. Now picking up the deathstick again, the warrior looked to finish the battle. As he walked towards the koa, Kanunu looked up and saw his opponent coming near. Thinking fast, he took the pikoi and threw it at the legs.
The string wrapped itself around the legs of the aboriginal, who fell in the sand. Not sure what just happened, he tried to untangle the ropes but before the man could succeed, the Koa stood above him, holding the sharktooth club.
Kuparr tried to protect his face and both of his arms got slashed by the sharkteeth embedded in the club. This Leiomano then slashed the face of the Australian Aboriginal, followed by several smashes to the head. Kuparr was dead.
'It looks like we have a winner.' Seth said with his trademark smile. 'Who could have guessed that a rope would be that usefull. I really thought that the Koa was a goner.' The young man added. 'Congratulations to the people of Hawaii. Also keep that sharktooth club very far away from me.'He winked as he said that.
'Now I am supposed to tell you the next match but I am not going to do that.' Seth continued. 'Instead I am going to provide hinds.' He found it boring to just announce it and thought that this might be more entertaining. Seth hoped that his boss would not be mad.
'The first warrior is big brutish and would not wish to visit Valhalla soon.' The host said. 'The other is a calm kung fu master who will make the opponent see orange.'
Fred looked at the sea and allowed himself to calm down. Halfway through the match, he had left. The staff knew what to do now so there was no need for him. If there was something Atthe would still be there. Soon he would have his own little nation and a tv station. Things happened so quickly now that he was afraid the same thing would happen as years ago. No he was not allowed to think like that. He was now better prepared and had powefull allies. Thinking he should give the president a call, the man walked back.
On his way to his office, two men were walking past him with a stretcher. On it was the dead body of the Australian warrior. So the Koa had won then. This body would be thrown into a cremating oven, removing all evidence that the man had been here.
maandag 6 februari 2017
The Arena. Chapter three: Makrigga and Tomahawk
The first fight had been a major succes. All around the world, both fans and critics had jubeled the Arena for historical correct weapons and realistic looking fights. Milions of people around the world had tuned in to watch the ninja fight the gladiator, even in the countries where the show was in the middle of the night.
There had also been haters ofcourse. Religious and family groups who found the content of the show inappropriate and wished the show off the air. Fred did not care about those holier then holy people. They just did not understand the beauty of the concept. There had also been complainers. People who found that the weapons and techniques were not historical correct or that there had been the wrong type of gladiator brought to the battle. These were fans who always found something to complain about and Fred could only laugh at them and their stupidity.
The week leading up to the next match was uneventfull. The health of the warriors got checked daily and they got to exercise and train every day as well. There was a special little building set up on the island, in which the warriors could train. Fearing a breakout, only one warrior would be allowed to train at a time and the warrior would be guarded by three soldiers and two handlers.
the warriors were not allowed to contact each other and they ate in their cells.
With the next saturday coming closer, more and more forums were full of people speculating the outcome and more polls were set up. Where in Africa almost everybody thought that the Azande and his ferocity would win out, in the US it was almost split in the middle, with slightly more votes for the Sioux. Fred had made it a habit to check different social media every night and read about the next match.
As he was reading comments on the website of the Arena site itself, Atthe entered their living room. 'Just got a call from the president, he is going to lobby next week to give this island autonomy.' She smiled as she said it, 'Good news. Everything would go as planned.' Fred smiled. If this island got autonomy and protection from the US, most laws would not be able to touch him and chances of getting invaded would be slim. This would attract criminal organisations to use the island and more profit for Fred.
'A new saturday, a new battle.' Seth laughed into the camera. 'Last week, we all saw how the ninja took the victory and let us see what will happen today.' With that, clips of last week were shown. 'Now do we have something special for you.' The young host said with a big smile. 'A battle between Africa and North America, as the Azande warrior faces off against a Sioux native american.' He continued. 'According to world wide polls, victory is given to the Azande, with 65 procent of the votes while the Sioux only recieved 35 procent of the total votes.'
Altough Seth himself was not allowed to play favorites, he hoped that the Sioux would win, due to a love for native americans. He was even allowed to see that native american in his cell. Not allowed to speak to the warrior or take pictures but seeing the man was enough.
'Now to introduce the warriors, let us start with the Azande.' Seth said. When the clip about the Azande warrior was done, he introduced the Sioux to the world.
'With the warriors introduced, it is time to see who will win this fight and join the ninja in the next round of the tournament. It is time to fight.' Seth yelled.
Afolabi stepped through the door. Where he first was in a room, with all different weapons, now the African warrior stood in a large sandy field, with big rocks in two rows. Now Afolabi knew that he would never see his home country again.
The man slowly walked over the sand and it did not take long for him to spot the opponent. This was the man he was supposed to kill if the Azande would want to survive. 'Very well.' Afolabi grinned. His grin changed in worry as the opponent aimed a bow at him. He hates opponents with bows. Cowards. The Azande jumped behind one of the big rocks to avoid an arrow.
Ohiyesa saw the large black man standing and took an arrow. He had been hunting when strange white men appeared. They had killed his horse without mercy as he charged the men with his lance. Just after hitting the ground, he got knocked out and awoke in the cell. These men were different then the other white men that the Sioux had seen before and all these strange rooms were alien as well.
However they said that he had to kill his opponents in a tournament to be allowed to go home and Ohiyesa was just about to do that. He wanted to see his tribe again. He had dropped his gunstock warclub and now tried to finish the fight with one arrow.
The arrow flew towards the target but hit the rock as the black man dodged behind it. Ohiyesa ran to the other side of the row of stones as well and got another arrow off. This time, it hit the sand and broke. Running back, the Native American was unable to spot his African opponent and slowly walked past the stones, his bow ready.
The Zande warrior peeked from behind the stone and saw his Native American opponent move carefully around. 'I'm gonna throw.' Afolabi yelled as he threw his kpinga. No matter what the enemy, he would not show cowardice himself.
Ohiyesa turned around and saw the weapon of the opponent coming near. The Sioux used the stone near him to jump away from the strange weapon but lost his footing and fell on the ground.
The African warrior took his makrigga and leather shield and ran towards his fallen foe, who grabbed a tomahawk of his own and threw it.
Tomahawk hit the leather shield and Afolabi was pushed backwards while he covered himself. He looked up again and the native american was gone.
Ohiyesa slowly climbed up on the large rock as his opponent was looking around on the other side.
He saw the black man walking underneath, still holding the spear and shield, which gave the warrior an idea. He jumped down, on top of his opponent. The two fell down and the Sioux was able to wrestle the shield away, then the two began to fight over the makrigga spear. Afolabi got the upper hand and with a headbutt, followed by a kick to the chest, he was able to send the native american in the sand. The Azande charged his american opponent, who rolled on the ground and grabbed his gunstock warclub.
The two warriors cirkeld each other, both now holding a weapon again. Afolabi thrusted his makrigga as Ohiyesa blocked the attack. Using the spike on the gunstock club, the Sioux hit the hand of the Azande. The larger man howled in pain and attacked again, only for the attack to be blocked.
The gunstock warclub flew towards the spear and knocked it with force out of the hands of the African warrior. Another attack to the head missed but the spike slashed the shoulder of Afolabi.
The Azande stepped backward and he grabbed his backup weapon, the makraka.
Ohiyesa on the other hand dropped his gunstock club and grabbed the spear of the opponent from the ground. He knew that a spear would be a more useful weapon at the moment and he had regretted it, not taking one with him at the beginning of the match.
Afolabi stepped backwards as he avoided the jabs of his own weapon, using his makraka to swipe the point away if it came to close. He knew the damage a makrigga could do. He had destroyed many opponents with that weapon. As the Zande avoided his own weapon, he peeked backwards and got an idea and started running.
Ohiyesa saw his opponent running and followed. This match was as good as over and he would be one step closer in seeing his tribe again.
It was too late when the Native American saw that his opponent grabbed the kpinga. He tried to pierce the Azande before the weapon could be thrown but Afolabi was faster and with no chance to dodge, the kpinga pierced the chest of the Sioux.
Ohiyesa breathed with difficulty as he tried to remove the big weapon but before he could, Afolabi stood in front of him and the makrigga pierced the chest several times. Ohiyesa could only think of his family as he died.
'After a bloody battle, we have a winner.' Seth yelled. 'The Azande goes on to the next round' He added. As Seth talked into the camera, the warriors got removed from the battlefield.
'Next week, we have a sunny duel as the Hawaiian Koa faces the Australian Aboriginal. See you next week.' With that, both Seth and the episodes finished.
There had also been haters ofcourse. Religious and family groups who found the content of the show inappropriate and wished the show off the air. Fred did not care about those holier then holy people. They just did not understand the beauty of the concept. There had also been complainers. People who found that the weapons and techniques were not historical correct or that there had been the wrong type of gladiator brought to the battle. These were fans who always found something to complain about and Fred could only laugh at them and their stupidity.
The week leading up to the next match was uneventfull. The health of the warriors got checked daily and they got to exercise and train every day as well. There was a special little building set up on the island, in which the warriors could train. Fearing a breakout, only one warrior would be allowed to train at a time and the warrior would be guarded by three soldiers and two handlers.
the warriors were not allowed to contact each other and they ate in their cells.
With the next saturday coming closer, more and more forums were full of people speculating the outcome and more polls were set up. Where in Africa almost everybody thought that the Azande and his ferocity would win out, in the US it was almost split in the middle, with slightly more votes for the Sioux. Fred had made it a habit to check different social media every night and read about the next match.
As he was reading comments on the website of the Arena site itself, Atthe entered their living room. 'Just got a call from the president, he is going to lobby next week to give this island autonomy.' She smiled as she said it, 'Good news. Everything would go as planned.' Fred smiled. If this island got autonomy and protection from the US, most laws would not be able to touch him and chances of getting invaded would be slim. This would attract criminal organisations to use the island and more profit for Fred.
'A new saturday, a new battle.' Seth laughed into the camera. 'Last week, we all saw how the ninja took the victory and let us see what will happen today.' With that, clips of last week were shown. 'Now do we have something special for you.' The young host said with a big smile. 'A battle between Africa and North America, as the Azande warrior faces off against a Sioux native american.' He continued. 'According to world wide polls, victory is given to the Azande, with 65 procent of the votes while the Sioux only recieved 35 procent of the total votes.'
Altough Seth himself was not allowed to play favorites, he hoped that the Sioux would win, due to a love for native americans. He was even allowed to see that native american in his cell. Not allowed to speak to the warrior or take pictures but seeing the man was enough.
'Now to introduce the warriors, let us start with the Azande.' Seth said. When the clip about the Azande warrior was done, he introduced the Sioux to the world.
'With the warriors introduced, it is time to see who will win this fight and join the ninja in the next round of the tournament. It is time to fight.' Seth yelled.
Afolabi stepped through the door. Where he first was in a room, with all different weapons, now the African warrior stood in a large sandy field, with big rocks in two rows. Now Afolabi knew that he would never see his home country again.
The man slowly walked over the sand and it did not take long for him to spot the opponent. This was the man he was supposed to kill if the Azande would want to survive. 'Very well.' Afolabi grinned. His grin changed in worry as the opponent aimed a bow at him. He hates opponents with bows. Cowards. The Azande jumped behind one of the big rocks to avoid an arrow.
Ohiyesa saw the large black man standing and took an arrow. He had been hunting when strange white men appeared. They had killed his horse without mercy as he charged the men with his lance. Just after hitting the ground, he got knocked out and awoke in the cell. These men were different then the other white men that the Sioux had seen before and all these strange rooms were alien as well.
However they said that he had to kill his opponents in a tournament to be allowed to go home and Ohiyesa was just about to do that. He wanted to see his tribe again. He had dropped his gunstock warclub and now tried to finish the fight with one arrow.
The arrow flew towards the target but hit the rock as the black man dodged behind it. Ohiyesa ran to the other side of the row of stones as well and got another arrow off. This time, it hit the sand and broke. Running back, the Native American was unable to spot his African opponent and slowly walked past the stones, his bow ready.
The Zande warrior peeked from behind the stone and saw his Native American opponent move carefully around. 'I'm gonna throw.' Afolabi yelled as he threw his kpinga. No matter what the enemy, he would not show cowardice himself.
Ohiyesa turned around and saw the weapon of the opponent coming near. The Sioux used the stone near him to jump away from the strange weapon but lost his footing and fell on the ground.
The African warrior took his makrigga and leather shield and ran towards his fallen foe, who grabbed a tomahawk of his own and threw it.
Tomahawk hit the leather shield and Afolabi was pushed backwards while he covered himself. He looked up again and the native american was gone.
Ohiyesa slowly climbed up on the large rock as his opponent was looking around on the other side.
He saw the black man walking underneath, still holding the spear and shield, which gave the warrior an idea. He jumped down, on top of his opponent. The two fell down and the Sioux was able to wrestle the shield away, then the two began to fight over the makrigga spear. Afolabi got the upper hand and with a headbutt, followed by a kick to the chest, he was able to send the native american in the sand. The Azande charged his american opponent, who rolled on the ground and grabbed his gunstock warclub.
The two warriors cirkeld each other, both now holding a weapon again. Afolabi thrusted his makrigga as Ohiyesa blocked the attack. Using the spike on the gunstock club, the Sioux hit the hand of the Azande. The larger man howled in pain and attacked again, only for the attack to be blocked.
The gunstock warclub flew towards the spear and knocked it with force out of the hands of the African warrior. Another attack to the head missed but the spike slashed the shoulder of Afolabi.
The Azande stepped backward and he grabbed his backup weapon, the makraka.
Ohiyesa on the other hand dropped his gunstock club and grabbed the spear of the opponent from the ground. He knew that a spear would be a more useful weapon at the moment and he had regretted it, not taking one with him at the beginning of the match.
Afolabi stepped backwards as he avoided the jabs of his own weapon, using his makraka to swipe the point away if it came to close. He knew the damage a makrigga could do. He had destroyed many opponents with that weapon. As the Zande avoided his own weapon, he peeked backwards and got an idea and started running.
Ohiyesa saw his opponent running and followed. This match was as good as over and he would be one step closer in seeing his tribe again.
It was too late when the Native American saw that his opponent grabbed the kpinga. He tried to pierce the Azande before the weapon could be thrown but Afolabi was faster and with no chance to dodge, the kpinga pierced the chest of the Sioux.
Ohiyesa breathed with difficulty as he tried to remove the big weapon but before he could, Afolabi stood in front of him and the makrigga pierced the chest several times. Ohiyesa could only think of his family as he died.
'After a bloody battle, we have a winner.' Seth yelled. 'The Azande goes on to the next round' He added. As Seth talked into the camera, the warriors got removed from the battlefield.
'Next week, we have a sunny duel as the Hawaiian Koa faces the Australian Aboriginal. See you next week.' With that, both Seth and the episodes finished.
zaterdag 28 januari 2017
The Arena. Chapter 2: The first fight.
'How are the fans guessing the fight?' Fred asked one of his media guys. 'So far 95 procent give it to the knight. They all say that the knight is fully armoured and has better weapons, thus the gladiator stands no chance at all.' This was something that Fred did not like to hear, still more people would be surprised if the gladiator actually won. He was much stronger then the knight after all.
It was the friday before the first fight. Social media has been working hard to get everyone hyped for the tournament, while his staff have been going on non stop to make sure everything worked well. The warriors were in top condition, the equipment worked really well and Fred had been in negotiations with the president of the United States to help make this island an foreign nation. Considering that the president was one of his two investors, that would not much of a problem. The only thing he had to do now was to chose the warriors for the next fight.
The next day, everybody was running around, everything had to be ready for the live broadcasting of the evening. Fred was clearly nervous and was drinking a lot of water. This was the most important day, the most important fight. This broadcast would have people tune in for more or his whole plan would fall apart in an instant.
'Mr. Devons?' One of the handlers suddenly appeared. The handlers were guards, who also spoke several languages and had a notion of history. Because of that, they were the perfect people to guide the warriors. 'What?' Fred asked. 'Rainarre LaCobbe is very sick.' The handler spoke. 'Who?' Fred asked. He did not know who this Rainarre was and he could not care less about the health of this person, the very first fight would begin in several hours. The handler sighted. 'The knight sir. The warrior who is supposed to fight the gladiator is very ill'
Suddenly, the world of Fred Devons came crashing down. 'Is he still able to fight?' Fred asked. 'No sir. We are not even sure if he will survive.' The handler answered.
All this preperation, all this hype and one of his fighters got sick. That was a disaster.
'Leave.' Fred said as he walked away himself, sending a text message to his wife and a few others.
'We need a solution.' Fred growled around the table. 'The knight is sick and will be unable to fight tonight.' 'Switch the fights around.' Atthe suggested. 'Now take one of the other fights and wait for for the knight to be better.' She added.
'We can't. The others still need have either armour or weapons completed.' Max countered. As head of equipment, he was responsible for the gear of the warriors and the historical correctness of it.
'What if we take the historyboomer and pick up another knight.' Alfonso suggested. This man was in charge of the soldiers on the island. Clearly he gave the best option. Fred did not like it, as this would tighten the schedule and possibly push a unprepared warrior in the arena. 'Yeah that seems the only solution. Do you have soldiers ready"He asked. Alfonso nodded when another voice interrupted. 'Sir, as you know, I am in charge of social media. As I have noted several times, people do not consider this a fair fight and where the polls gave 95 to 5 in favor of the knight yesterday, now the polls are showing a 99 to 1. ' So?' Fred asked Omar. 'What if we scrapped the knight and gave a more fair fight. According to my calculations, that would give more hype and more people watching.' 'Who do you think would work well then?' It was Atthe who spoke this time. 'Both facebook and twitter suggest that people are looking forwards to a ninja, but we do not have any.' 'How do we get weapons?'Fred replied. 'Ninja weapons are easy to come by, considering they have a hardcore fandom.' Max added to the conversation.
'Hmm Okay.' Alfonso get your men ready for a trip to feudal Japan. I want them away in half an hour.' The man nodded and left. Omar left as well, trying to think of a way to spin this change into their advantage, While Max was phoning people to collect the correct gear. Fred hoped that the new fighter would arrive on time. Altough they had a time machine, it could only travel in linear time, meaning that, if they were an hour in the past, an hour would be gone in real time.
The Historyboomer arrived at the island Koka, in Japan. 'We are supposed to find a ninja here?' Joseph commented. 'Yes.' Elmar answered. 'But aren't they invisible and stealthy and shit. How are we ever going to capture one?'Joseph asked. 'Everybody on this island is supposed to be a ninja.' The leader replied. 'Great, we just pick a random young man we find and hope for the best.' Edward responded sarcastic. 'That is the plan.' Elmar nodded. His tone did not show any sign of humor.
The four men slowly walked around, keeping close to the historyboomer. The four had to find a ninja as soon as possible but no clue how to either find a ninja or recognise one.
After an hour of walking around, three young men suddenly appeared from nowhere. They said some words and the four soldiers created a small circle. 'These two down.' Elmar yelled and the machine guns rattled. As two of the three fell down, the leader used his knockout dart on the third person.
'Eward and Eddy, Cover.' Elmar spoke. 'Joseph, target.' He then added. Joseph lifted the knocked out man up as Edwin and Eddy kept their weapons ready. With Elmar in front, the four walked back to the historyboomer.
'One minute to go people.' Fred Devons yelled. This was it. In one minute, they would go live and this would either make or break Fred. After the disaster of the sick knight, they were lucky to have found a ninja. The social media department had turned the whole situation around, claiming that due to the demands of fans, the knight was out and a mystery warrior would enter the battlefield against the gladiator. This worked out very well and forums were full of people guessing who this mystery warrior was.
'Welcome everybody. Welcome to the first episode of the Arena. My name is Seth and I will be your host for this series' The young man spoke before the camera. 'You all want to see historical warriors duke it out and that is exactly what you will be getting,'
Fred looked on from behind the camera. 'Get the warriors down and let them pick their weapons.' He said to a handler, who nodded.
'Now it is both an honour and a pleasure to introduce the two warriors who will be duking it out in the arena today.' The smiling young man spoke. 'First off we have the Gladiator. In fact, it will be a Murmillo Gladiator.' With that said, a small clip about the gladiator began to show.
'Now you know all about the gladiator, it is time to reveal his mystery opponent.' The host said when the clip was done. 'It is the knight!' He suddenly yelled out. At this Fred tensed. He knows that is not the knight right?' the owner asked the staff around them. Before any could answer, the host added: 'Just joking just joking. No we have heard your calls and read all your comments. I will now finally and officially reveal the opponent from tonight.' 'Fred could kill Seth right now but he had to admit that the young man had flair and was a very good pick to be the face of the tournament.
'You all have seen anime and have seen martial arts movies, so you will probably all be familiar with him. May I introduce the Ninja.' Seth laughed. With that, a clip about the ninja showed.
Hiroki looked at the big men in front of the door, then to the weapons on the table. The last two days had been chaotic. Yesterday Hiroki was protecting the village against strangers and then he woke up in a cell in a strange world. He did not know what happened to the village or his family or friends but from what he had gathered, the young man was kidnapped to fight other warriors. Hiroki was prepared. He had been training his entire life in the arts of fighting, stealing and assasination. The young ninja was ready to fight whoever these strangers dared to throw at him.
He looked around at the weapons before him. He picked up a few kunai, a kasumigari and a short sword.
Brennus walked into the forest. This was weird. He did not even know that they were near a forest. Not that it mattered. He was dragged here to fight and fighting was all he did ever since he was taken from his village by the Romans.
As the gladiator walked through the forest, he thought what got him here. One moment he was walking with his master though the streets of Salernum, when his master got by a strange weapon. As Brennus was charging the attacker, he got knocked out and awoke in a cell.
These strangers explained that he would keep on fighting, only other opponents and these were always battles to the death.
Hiroki slowly moved through the forest, trying to find his opponent when he suddenly saw a large man in front of him. The ninja jumped behind a tree and peaked as the large man walked around. His opponent wore a helmet and a shield but his chest was bare. That would be his weak spot.
The japanse left his kasurigama at the root of the tree as he jumped in the tree and then made his way towards his opponent.
As Hiroki was near, he jumped out of the tree and waited for the gladiator to pass.
The ninja slowly grabbed his sword and made his way towards the opponent. Just before he could attack, Brennus turned around, his instincts of battle telling him to watch out. The straight sword hit the shield of the gladiator, who then rammed the shield in the face of the ninja.
Hiroki jumped away, barely in time to dodge the sword Brennus.
Knowing his attack had failed, the ninja ran away from the fight, with the big man following.
As one chased the other, Hiroki suddenly turned around. He threw a kunai, aimed at the helmet of the murmillo, but it got blocked by the big scutum shield. This was what he was counting on, as the Japenese man ran towards his foe and attacked the swordarm. The ninja sword met the gladius and then, as Hiroku moved his hands, met the shoulder of the gladiator. Brennus was angry and smashed his elbow in the face of his opponent. Hiroku rolled backwards and threw another kunai as Brennus charged. The murmillo was just able to pull up his shield in defense, but when he looked again, his opponent was gone.
'How are the numbers?' Fred asked Atthe. 'Very well.' His wife replied cheerfully.
As the episode continues, more people are tuning in and out website is loaded. There are all kinds of topics in several other forums about the fight as well. 'Who do the polls say who will win?' Fred then asked. 'While at the announcement of the ninja, it was a 60/40 in favor of the ninja. After this last attack, its a 80/20 situation. People say that the ninja will wait untill the gladiator has been bled out before he comes with the kill.' It was Omar who answered this time.
'Also, apart from the usual complains about weapons or fighting styles being not correct, everybody loves it.' The media guy added.
Hiroki had collected his kasurigama was looking for his big opponent again. That man looked tough. Nothing like he was used to. He finally found the other man in a large open spot in the middle of the forest. There was no way to sneak up to the man so Hiroki decided to face him up front. This might work or it would be a fatal mistake, but the ninja felt convident.
Brennus rubbed the cut on his shoulder. He was used to these kinds of cuts and it did not bother him much. However his opponent was a small stealthy man who would not face him head on. The cowards attacked from behind and then fled. Now in this position, there was nowhere to hide and the only way that little man could attack him was right upfront. Brennus would show what a gladiator was made off.
As Hiroki entered the battlefield, Brennus stood, with his shield in front of him. This would be the final clash, both fighters knew that.
Hiroki neared his opponent, the ball of the kasurigama making circles in the air. The ball then flew towards the gladiator, past the shield and hit the large man on his shieldarm. another attack of the ball was aimed at the head of the murmillo. This time, the metal ball hit the shield and Brennus rushed forwards. Hiroki was about to move away to avoid a shieldbash, when the scutum got pulled aside and the tip of the gladius appeared. This time, Brennus was able to hit Hiroki in the side. The next attack met air however and with the third jab, the ninja was able to block the blade using the gama part of the weapon.
Hiroki saw blood dripping from his wound. Without thinking, he pushed his finger into his wound and threw his blood at his opponent. Altough barely any blood got into the eyes of the gladiator, it stunned him enough for Hiroki to use the gama to pull the shield away as his ninja sword went out of the sheath and into the chest of the gladiator.
Brennus felt the blade enter his chest and he dropped his shield. He was a gladiator, he could not lose. Before the large man could counter however, the ninja slashed the throat of Brennus with his gama.
First fell the gladius sword into the grass, followed by blood and lastly a near dead murmillo.
He tried to breath, tried to stand up. His body would not move. At least Brennus died in the open air of the forest.
A relief came over Hiroki. He wondered if he could go now his opponent was dead. This man was a though opponent and nothing he had ever fought before.
Suddenly the forest dissapeared and a big room appeared in its place. Then Hiroki felt something sting his arm and he collapsed.
'The first fight is over and the winner is the Ninja!' Seth cheered. 'Everybody who expected the ninja to take the win, and from all your comments it appears most of you did, congratulations. For those who hoped for the gladiator.. Next time better.' The host laughed in the camera. 'Speaking of next time. I can now announce the next battle. So next week, same time, same channel, you will be able to watch a duel between a African Zande warrior and a north American Sioux'
It was the friday before the first fight. Social media has been working hard to get everyone hyped for the tournament, while his staff have been going on non stop to make sure everything worked well. The warriors were in top condition, the equipment worked really well and Fred had been in negotiations with the president of the United States to help make this island an foreign nation. Considering that the president was one of his two investors, that would not much of a problem. The only thing he had to do now was to chose the warriors for the next fight.
The next day, everybody was running around, everything had to be ready for the live broadcasting of the evening. Fred was clearly nervous and was drinking a lot of water. This was the most important day, the most important fight. This broadcast would have people tune in for more or his whole plan would fall apart in an instant.
'Mr. Devons?' One of the handlers suddenly appeared. The handlers were guards, who also spoke several languages and had a notion of history. Because of that, they were the perfect people to guide the warriors. 'What?' Fred asked. 'Rainarre LaCobbe is very sick.' The handler spoke. 'Who?' Fred asked. He did not know who this Rainarre was and he could not care less about the health of this person, the very first fight would begin in several hours. The handler sighted. 'The knight sir. The warrior who is supposed to fight the gladiator is very ill'
Suddenly, the world of Fred Devons came crashing down. 'Is he still able to fight?' Fred asked. 'No sir. We are not even sure if he will survive.' The handler answered.
All this preperation, all this hype and one of his fighters got sick. That was a disaster.
'Leave.' Fred said as he walked away himself, sending a text message to his wife and a few others.
'We need a solution.' Fred growled around the table. 'The knight is sick and will be unable to fight tonight.' 'Switch the fights around.' Atthe suggested. 'Now take one of the other fights and wait for for the knight to be better.' She added.
'We can't. The others still need have either armour or weapons completed.' Max countered. As head of equipment, he was responsible for the gear of the warriors and the historical correctness of it.
'What if we take the historyboomer and pick up another knight.' Alfonso suggested. This man was in charge of the soldiers on the island. Clearly he gave the best option. Fred did not like it, as this would tighten the schedule and possibly push a unprepared warrior in the arena. 'Yeah that seems the only solution. Do you have soldiers ready"He asked. Alfonso nodded when another voice interrupted. 'Sir, as you know, I am in charge of social media. As I have noted several times, people do not consider this a fair fight and where the polls gave 95 to 5 in favor of the knight yesterday, now the polls are showing a 99 to 1. ' So?' Fred asked Omar. 'What if we scrapped the knight and gave a more fair fight. According to my calculations, that would give more hype and more people watching.' 'Who do you think would work well then?' It was Atthe who spoke this time. 'Both facebook and twitter suggest that people are looking forwards to a ninja, but we do not have any.' 'How do we get weapons?'Fred replied. 'Ninja weapons are easy to come by, considering they have a hardcore fandom.' Max added to the conversation.
'Hmm Okay.' Alfonso get your men ready for a trip to feudal Japan. I want them away in half an hour.' The man nodded and left. Omar left as well, trying to think of a way to spin this change into their advantage, While Max was phoning people to collect the correct gear. Fred hoped that the new fighter would arrive on time. Altough they had a time machine, it could only travel in linear time, meaning that, if they were an hour in the past, an hour would be gone in real time.
The Historyboomer arrived at the island Koka, in Japan. 'We are supposed to find a ninja here?' Joseph commented. 'Yes.' Elmar answered. 'But aren't they invisible and stealthy and shit. How are we ever going to capture one?'Joseph asked. 'Everybody on this island is supposed to be a ninja.' The leader replied. 'Great, we just pick a random young man we find and hope for the best.' Edward responded sarcastic. 'That is the plan.' Elmar nodded. His tone did not show any sign of humor.
The four men slowly walked around, keeping close to the historyboomer. The four had to find a ninja as soon as possible but no clue how to either find a ninja or recognise one.
After an hour of walking around, three young men suddenly appeared from nowhere. They said some words and the four soldiers created a small circle. 'These two down.' Elmar yelled and the machine guns rattled. As two of the three fell down, the leader used his knockout dart on the third person.
'Eward and Eddy, Cover.' Elmar spoke. 'Joseph, target.' He then added. Joseph lifted the knocked out man up as Edwin and Eddy kept their weapons ready. With Elmar in front, the four walked back to the historyboomer.
'One minute to go people.' Fred Devons yelled. This was it. In one minute, they would go live and this would either make or break Fred. After the disaster of the sick knight, they were lucky to have found a ninja. The social media department had turned the whole situation around, claiming that due to the demands of fans, the knight was out and a mystery warrior would enter the battlefield against the gladiator. This worked out very well and forums were full of people guessing who this mystery warrior was.
'Welcome everybody. Welcome to the first episode of the Arena. My name is Seth and I will be your host for this series' The young man spoke before the camera. 'You all want to see historical warriors duke it out and that is exactly what you will be getting,'
Fred looked on from behind the camera. 'Get the warriors down and let them pick their weapons.' He said to a handler, who nodded.
'Now it is both an honour and a pleasure to introduce the two warriors who will be duking it out in the arena today.' The smiling young man spoke. 'First off we have the Gladiator. In fact, it will be a Murmillo Gladiator.' With that said, a small clip about the gladiator began to show.
'Now you know all about the gladiator, it is time to reveal his mystery opponent.' The host said when the clip was done. 'It is the knight!' He suddenly yelled out. At this Fred tensed. He knows that is not the knight right?' the owner asked the staff around them. Before any could answer, the host added: 'Just joking just joking. No we have heard your calls and read all your comments. I will now finally and officially reveal the opponent from tonight.' 'Fred could kill Seth right now but he had to admit that the young man had flair and was a very good pick to be the face of the tournament.
'You all have seen anime and have seen martial arts movies, so you will probably all be familiar with him. May I introduce the Ninja.' Seth laughed. With that, a clip about the ninja showed.
Hiroki looked at the big men in front of the door, then to the weapons on the table. The last two days had been chaotic. Yesterday Hiroki was protecting the village against strangers and then he woke up in a cell in a strange world. He did not know what happened to the village or his family or friends but from what he had gathered, the young man was kidnapped to fight other warriors. Hiroki was prepared. He had been training his entire life in the arts of fighting, stealing and assasination. The young ninja was ready to fight whoever these strangers dared to throw at him.
He looked around at the weapons before him. He picked up a few kunai, a kasumigari and a short sword.
Brennus walked into the forest. This was weird. He did not even know that they were near a forest. Not that it mattered. He was dragged here to fight and fighting was all he did ever since he was taken from his village by the Romans.
As the gladiator walked through the forest, he thought what got him here. One moment he was walking with his master though the streets of Salernum, when his master got by a strange weapon. As Brennus was charging the attacker, he got knocked out and awoke in a cell.
These strangers explained that he would keep on fighting, only other opponents and these were always battles to the death.
Hiroki slowly moved through the forest, trying to find his opponent when he suddenly saw a large man in front of him. The ninja jumped behind a tree and peaked as the large man walked around. His opponent wore a helmet and a shield but his chest was bare. That would be his weak spot.
The japanse left his kasurigama at the root of the tree as he jumped in the tree and then made his way towards his opponent.
As Hiroki was near, he jumped out of the tree and waited for the gladiator to pass.
The ninja slowly grabbed his sword and made his way towards the opponent. Just before he could attack, Brennus turned around, his instincts of battle telling him to watch out. The straight sword hit the shield of the gladiator, who then rammed the shield in the face of the ninja.
Hiroki jumped away, barely in time to dodge the sword Brennus.
Knowing his attack had failed, the ninja ran away from the fight, with the big man following.
As one chased the other, Hiroki suddenly turned around. He threw a kunai, aimed at the helmet of the murmillo, but it got blocked by the big scutum shield. This was what he was counting on, as the Japenese man ran towards his foe and attacked the swordarm. The ninja sword met the gladius and then, as Hiroku moved his hands, met the shoulder of the gladiator. Brennus was angry and smashed his elbow in the face of his opponent. Hiroku rolled backwards and threw another kunai as Brennus charged. The murmillo was just able to pull up his shield in defense, but when he looked again, his opponent was gone.
'How are the numbers?' Fred asked Atthe. 'Very well.' His wife replied cheerfully.
As the episode continues, more people are tuning in and out website is loaded. There are all kinds of topics in several other forums about the fight as well. 'Who do the polls say who will win?' Fred then asked. 'While at the announcement of the ninja, it was a 60/40 in favor of the ninja. After this last attack, its a 80/20 situation. People say that the ninja will wait untill the gladiator has been bled out before he comes with the kill.' It was Omar who answered this time.
'Also, apart from the usual complains about weapons or fighting styles being not correct, everybody loves it.' The media guy added.
Hiroki had collected his kasurigama was looking for his big opponent again. That man looked tough. Nothing like he was used to. He finally found the other man in a large open spot in the middle of the forest. There was no way to sneak up to the man so Hiroki decided to face him up front. This might work or it would be a fatal mistake, but the ninja felt convident.
Brennus rubbed the cut on his shoulder. He was used to these kinds of cuts and it did not bother him much. However his opponent was a small stealthy man who would not face him head on. The cowards attacked from behind and then fled. Now in this position, there was nowhere to hide and the only way that little man could attack him was right upfront. Brennus would show what a gladiator was made off.
As Hiroki entered the battlefield, Brennus stood, with his shield in front of him. This would be the final clash, both fighters knew that.
Hiroki neared his opponent, the ball of the kasurigama making circles in the air. The ball then flew towards the gladiator, past the shield and hit the large man on his shieldarm. another attack of the ball was aimed at the head of the murmillo. This time, the metal ball hit the shield and Brennus rushed forwards. Hiroki was about to move away to avoid a shieldbash, when the scutum got pulled aside and the tip of the gladius appeared. This time, Brennus was able to hit Hiroki in the side. The next attack met air however and with the third jab, the ninja was able to block the blade using the gama part of the weapon.
Hiroki saw blood dripping from his wound. Without thinking, he pushed his finger into his wound and threw his blood at his opponent. Altough barely any blood got into the eyes of the gladiator, it stunned him enough for Hiroki to use the gama to pull the shield away as his ninja sword went out of the sheath and into the chest of the gladiator.
Brennus felt the blade enter his chest and he dropped his shield. He was a gladiator, he could not lose. Before the large man could counter however, the ninja slashed the throat of Brennus with his gama.
First fell the gladius sword into the grass, followed by blood and lastly a near dead murmillo.
He tried to breath, tried to stand up. His body would not move. At least Brennus died in the open air of the forest.
A relief came over Hiroki. He wondered if he could go now his opponent was dead. This man was a though opponent and nothing he had ever fought before.
Suddenly the forest dissapeared and a big room appeared in its place. Then Hiroki felt something sting his arm and he collapsed.
'The first fight is over and the winner is the Ninja!' Seth cheered. 'Everybody who expected the ninja to take the win, and from all your comments it appears most of you did, congratulations. For those who hoped for the gladiator.. Next time better.' The host laughed in the camera. 'Speaking of next time. I can now announce the next battle. So next week, same time, same channel, you will be able to watch a duel between a African Zande warrior and a north American Sioux'
donderdag 12 januari 2017
The Arena. Chapter 1: A new beginning
Fred Devons watched the arena through the window. 'It still has the same properties as it used to have?' He asked a small man with a thick mustache. 'Yes sir. With one push of the button we can have a football stadium, an ancient chinese tomb or even a vulcano in here.' The man pushed some buttons and the arena turned into a football stadium. 'Good.' Fred smiled as he walked away.
It has been ten years since the disaster of the first tournament. Everything had been going well and everybody all over the world had watched the tournament. However when his warriors rebelled and international armies attacked the island, everything had fallen apart. Ten years,.. It had cost Fred ten years to recover from that disaster. He had to lie low, pay off several criminal organisations and find a a way to get his island back. But in the end, Fred Devons came back on top, he always did.
Fred walked to his office, where he and his wife Atthe would have a meeting with two investers. He had met Atthe during his first island tournament and she had stayed with him all the way. Now they were married and ready to make it big again. 'Both are in your office already.' Atthe spoke as she walked towards Fred. 'How many warriors do we currently have?'Fred then asked. 'The knight and the Ronin have been brought in today, which means that we only need the Viking and Aztec warrior.' His wife answered. 'You are great.' The man spoke. He gave her a kiss and stepped into his office.
'Mr. President and Mr. Leono, it is always good to see you.' Fred greeted his two investers. 'And it is always a pleasure to see you.'Albert Leone answered with a smile. 'Yes it seems that you are almost ready to start?' Mickey Tromp asked. As new president of the United States and businessman, he had been a key figure in rebuilding the tournament. The island now belonged to Mickey Tromp and he had funded the recovery of some important pieces of technology. This also meant that Fred did not have to worry about getting invaded again but it also meant that half of the money they were making, would go straight to the president.
Albert Leone was the boss of a big crime family, which was active in both the US and Italy. He also had connections with other criminal organsations around the world. Albert had supplied Fred with most of the guards on the island.
'We are picking up the last two warriors tomorrow and will then air our first commercial.' Fred explained with pride. 'Our first match will air next week.' The two other men nodded in agreement.
Fred took a sip of whiskey as he looked at the prisoners through the security camera's. Most were sleeping or calmly sitting down, having given up their attempts to escape. Only the knight still slammed his fists against the bars and yelled in French. He would stop too. Soon he would realise that it was useless to escape.
In the first tournament, he had pitted real life historical warriors against each other in a tournament to the death. Now he was doing it all over again. With only one history boomer that had survived, it took longer to collect all the historical warriors. Now they were almost complete and could begin over. Everybody would know of Fred Devons once again.
With a hard boom, the history boomer arrived in the jungles of South America. The history boomer was a time machine, able to take the user into history and back into the present. It had place for four men and two prisoners Fourteen historical warriors had been collected thus far and now it was time for the last two.
'So what are we looking for?' Joseph asked. 'A guy who is dressed like a jaguar.' was the answer of Edward. 'What the fuck is a jaguar?' Joseph replied. 'An animal. Now shut it and come.' It was their leader Elmar, who spoke.
A man named Eddy joined the three and the small group headed further in the jungle.
Suddenly, the four men heard sounds coming from around them. 'Weapons ready.' Elmar shouted. Small spears suddenly flew from the trees towards them. The four dodged as good as possible, with only Edward getting hit in the side. They returned fire to the trees. More yelling around them and two warriors appeared, armed with wooden swords which had sharp stones embedded in them.
Joseph aimed his shotgun and fired straight in the chest of one warrior, while Elmar fired a knockout dart, which hit the other one.
As he took the man and dragged him to the history boomer, the others gave coverfire. With the Aztec jaguar loaded in, the history boomer dissapeared with a hard boom.
The familiar sound was heard as the historyboomer arrived at its next designation. however screaming and yelling overtook the sound of the historyboomer. From their vehicle, the four men saw how a small village was attacked. 'What is going on here?'Joseph asked. 'What do you think' Came the snarkly reply of Edward. 'Two groups of vikings fighing each other.' He added. 'But they have no horns on their helmets.' Joseph was clearly confused. Elmar took controll of the situation. 'Eddy and I will go and capture a viking. You two will stay here. Joseph, open the door when we come back, Edward keep your AK ready.' The others nodded and the two left.
'Be carefull, Elmar.' Said as the two walked around a corner. The two suddenly saw a viking, who had his back towards them. He was nearly naked and had a bald head. Elmar saw a chance and shot his knockout dart in the viking, who turned around. The two now saw that the man sported a large red beard. He heaved his large axe and ran towards them as Elmar hit his target with another knockout dart.
Just before the viking berserker could hit them, he fell headfirst on the ground. The two dragged their target towards their historyboomer and as Elmar had thought, the raid gave them enough cover to stay undetected.
With the viking loaded in, the historyboomer left for the present.
'Sir.' The last two warriors have arrived.' Elmar spoke to Fred as his head peaked through the door of the office. 'Good.' Fred nodded. 'Anyone injured?' He asked. 'Only Edward minor wound to his side. Nothing serious this time.' The soldier added. Fred had barely heard the last words as he stared at the security footage, where the two new warriors were locked in their prison cells.
All warriors collected and everything ready to go. As soon as he pushed enter on his computer, the first commercial would go live in all social media platforms. Then, a week from now the first episode would start. The first match where a knight would fight a gladiator. Fred smiled once again as he pushed enter.
It has been ten years since the disaster of the first tournament. Everything had been going well and everybody all over the world had watched the tournament. However when his warriors rebelled and international armies attacked the island, everything had fallen apart. Ten years,.. It had cost Fred ten years to recover from that disaster. He had to lie low, pay off several criminal organisations and find a a way to get his island back. But in the end, Fred Devons came back on top, he always did.
Fred walked to his office, where he and his wife Atthe would have a meeting with two investers. He had met Atthe during his first island tournament and she had stayed with him all the way. Now they were married and ready to make it big again. 'Both are in your office already.' Atthe spoke as she walked towards Fred. 'How many warriors do we currently have?'Fred then asked. 'The knight and the Ronin have been brought in today, which means that we only need the Viking and Aztec warrior.' His wife answered. 'You are great.' The man spoke. He gave her a kiss and stepped into his office.
'Mr. President and Mr. Leono, it is always good to see you.' Fred greeted his two investers. 'And it is always a pleasure to see you.'Albert Leone answered with a smile. 'Yes it seems that you are almost ready to start?' Mickey Tromp asked. As new president of the United States and businessman, he had been a key figure in rebuilding the tournament. The island now belonged to Mickey Tromp and he had funded the recovery of some important pieces of technology. This also meant that Fred did not have to worry about getting invaded again but it also meant that half of the money they were making, would go straight to the president.
Albert Leone was the boss of a big crime family, which was active in both the US and Italy. He also had connections with other criminal organsations around the world. Albert had supplied Fred with most of the guards on the island.
'We are picking up the last two warriors tomorrow and will then air our first commercial.' Fred explained with pride. 'Our first match will air next week.' The two other men nodded in agreement.
Fred took a sip of whiskey as he looked at the prisoners through the security camera's. Most were sleeping or calmly sitting down, having given up their attempts to escape. Only the knight still slammed his fists against the bars and yelled in French. He would stop too. Soon he would realise that it was useless to escape.
In the first tournament, he had pitted real life historical warriors against each other in a tournament to the death. Now he was doing it all over again. With only one history boomer that had survived, it took longer to collect all the historical warriors. Now they were almost complete and could begin over. Everybody would know of Fred Devons once again.
With a hard boom, the history boomer arrived in the jungles of South America. The history boomer was a time machine, able to take the user into history and back into the present. It had place for four men and two prisoners Fourteen historical warriors had been collected thus far and now it was time for the last two.
'So what are we looking for?' Joseph asked. 'A guy who is dressed like a jaguar.' was the answer of Edward. 'What the fuck is a jaguar?' Joseph replied. 'An animal. Now shut it and come.' It was their leader Elmar, who spoke.
A man named Eddy joined the three and the small group headed further in the jungle.
Suddenly, the four men heard sounds coming from around them. 'Weapons ready.' Elmar shouted. Small spears suddenly flew from the trees towards them. The four dodged as good as possible, with only Edward getting hit in the side. They returned fire to the trees. More yelling around them and two warriors appeared, armed with wooden swords which had sharp stones embedded in them.
Joseph aimed his shotgun and fired straight in the chest of one warrior, while Elmar fired a knockout dart, which hit the other one.
As he took the man and dragged him to the history boomer, the others gave coverfire. With the Aztec jaguar loaded in, the history boomer dissapeared with a hard boom.
The familiar sound was heard as the historyboomer arrived at its next designation. however screaming and yelling overtook the sound of the historyboomer. From their vehicle, the four men saw how a small village was attacked. 'What is going on here?'Joseph asked. 'What do you think' Came the snarkly reply of Edward. 'Two groups of vikings fighing each other.' He added. 'But they have no horns on their helmets.' Joseph was clearly confused. Elmar took controll of the situation. 'Eddy and I will go and capture a viking. You two will stay here. Joseph, open the door when we come back, Edward keep your AK ready.' The others nodded and the two left.
'Be carefull, Elmar.' Said as the two walked around a corner. The two suddenly saw a viking, who had his back towards them. He was nearly naked and had a bald head. Elmar saw a chance and shot his knockout dart in the viking, who turned around. The two now saw that the man sported a large red beard. He heaved his large axe and ran towards them as Elmar hit his target with another knockout dart.
Just before the viking berserker could hit them, he fell headfirst on the ground. The two dragged their target towards their historyboomer and as Elmar had thought, the raid gave them enough cover to stay undetected.
With the viking loaded in, the historyboomer left for the present.
'Sir.' The last two warriors have arrived.' Elmar spoke to Fred as his head peaked through the door of the office. 'Good.' Fred nodded. 'Anyone injured?' He asked. 'Only Edward minor wound to his side. Nothing serious this time.' The soldier added. Fred had barely heard the last words as he stared at the security footage, where the two new warriors were locked in their prison cells.
All warriors collected and everything ready to go. As soon as he pushed enter on his computer, the first commercial would go live in all social media platforms. Then, a week from now the first episode would start. The first match where a knight would fight a gladiator. Fred smiled once again as he pushed enter.
dinsdag 15 december 2015
Black Bart VS. Dick Turpin
Two men who got rich and famous by stealing. Who would win when a Pirate captain faced off against a Highwayman.
The weapons of a pirate, flintlock pistols were close range fire weapons. Superior to the earlier wheel lock pistol, the flintlock ignited itself. There were different types of flintlock pistols used in combination with each other and therefore there is no definite length, weight or range. The length of these weapons could differ from five inches to eighteen inches. With the smaller sizes, a pirate could wear more of them but the bigger inches gave more range. Overall. these were small and lightweight weapons. They did tend to misfire and each pistol could only shoot one bullet before it needed to be reloaded.
Black Bart was known to use flintlock pistols himself and he always carried four of them in a sash on his chest. Note that if a flintlock pistol misfired, Bart could always use them as melee weapons by hitting opponents in the head with it. Not classy but it did happen.
Spadroon:
Before I start explaining about the spadroon. I found a lot of texts and pictures that indicated that Black Bart did use a sword but I never found specified what sword it was. After looking at the most occurring picture I found of him with sword (see top picture of Black Bart) and comparing them with swords of that era. The spadroon resembles the picture the most and the spadroon is a sword used by naval officers. As a captain of his own fleet and one with a very rich taste, It is okay to assume that Bart did use a spadroon as his personal sword.
As I explained, the spadroon is an officers sword and was commonly seen in the British navy. It had a stiff blade which could both cut and thrust. There is little to find about the spadroon but I did find that the quality of these weapon differ a lot. Some were made rather weak wile others were stronger build. It all depended on the maker and the country of origin. I will assume for this battle, that Black Bart had the best quality weapons.
A simple and light sword, this blade was a decent sword and could defend the officer up close if the man was in trouble. The sword of Bart had a small circular cross guard. There is little else to say because there is little information about the personal sword of Black Bart and little information about spadroons in general.
The final pirate weapon we are going to discuss here is the boarding axe. The axe started as a tool on the ships, to cut rope or wood. However sailors soon found out that they could be used in battle and pirates especially found it particular useful. This led to the Boarding axe. Now both a tool and a weapon for the pirates, who used them frequently. The axe was an great way to cut someone down. The axe itself could sometimes be curved, although this did not happen a lot in america and England (the type of axes most logical in possession of Black Bart's crew) These would have more of a flared form. The axe was sharp enough to cut though thick rope in one hit. The spike was slightly curved, making it useful as hook. With it, axe could hook ropes but also climb aboard ships with more ease. It also makes for one nasty weapon.
Motivation:
Although Bart entered the life of a pirate against his own will and even became the captain reluctantly, Bart showed for years to come that he was a menacing pirate. And why are pirates there? To rob ships and steal the treasures of other ships. If he or his men had been attacked or betrayed, Black Bart would consider it a personal matter and would not stop until the opponent had been destroyed. A harsh but fair leader, his men knew that Roberts was one of the best. They followed him because the pirates knew that Roberts would come home with treasure. Overall, the motivation was money but for the pirates followed Roberts because he was a good leader.
There is little known about Bartholomew Roberts early life, as he only appeared in history when the young man was at sea. It seems unlikely that Bart had any formal training as soldier. Having said that, it was not uncommon for pirates to start in the navy but switch over to a life of piracy when the pay was disappointing. Therefore it is rather possible for Black Bart to have had men on his crew with the training. As I cannot give clear examples, this is pure speculation.
Lastly I would like to discuss the pirates attacking land. Pirates preferred to stay off land as it was easier to escape, however sometimes they would attack coastal towns. appearing at night and ransacking everything before heading away on the ships again. When soldiers came in, the pirates were long gone.
Black Bart used the same kind of tactics as all the other pirates.
http://www.thewayofthepirates.com/famous-pirates/bartholomew-roberts/
Black Bart Versus Dick Turpin
Black Bart
Background:
When you think about the golden age of piracy, Your mind will go to Blackbeard. Edward Teach is the most famous pirate but he is in a long shot not the most successful. That honor belongs to a gentleman named Bartholomew Roberts, better known as Black Bart.
Born in Wales, in the year of 1682. Little is known about Barts early years. We do know that he went to sea early in his life and was a very competent sailor and he became second mate on the slaver ship princess in 1719.
Things completely changed when the Welsh pirate Howell Davis took control of the ship. Davis found out that Roberts was Welsh as well and forced the man into a life of piracy, which the Catholic Roberts did not like at all.
Bart impressed the other pirates with his navigation skills and when Davis got killed six weeks later, Bart got voted to become the new captain. Even though he had been forced to join, Bart accepted the position. According to some historians of that time, Roberts felt that if he had to be a pirate, he rather be a commander then a common man. His first order of business: Destroy the town where Davis had been killed, to avenge the former captain.
Their first big load was in South America, where he took a treasure fleet that was bound for Portugal. The captain simply sailed towards the bay in Brazil where the fleet of 42 ships and two men of war's were waiting to set sail. Bart acted like he was part of the convoy and took one ship without anybody noticing. Bart then searched for the biggest ship, took it quickly and sailed away with his two new ships. The two warships never were able to catch him.
While Bart went on to chase another ship, a few of his crew members, led by an Irishman named Walter Kennedy, took off with one of the Portuguese ships and most of the loot.
Roberts was furious and swore that it would not happen again, so he started writing something that later got known as the pirate code. Within, he set rules for pirates about: How to behave on ship and off ship, the punishments for breaking the codes and even how to share the loot. Black Bart made any new crew mate swear to these rules and he added a rule that Irishmen could never become full members of his crew.
When Roberts had new crew members and acquired additional loot, he found himself in Barbados. There he aimed to take another ship, not knowing that it was lead by a pirate hunter named Rogers. He was paid by the authorities of Barbados to capture Rogers. The pirate hunter attacked and Rogers was forced to flee. After this incident, Roberts would be extremely cruel to any ship he captured that was from Barbados.
The man then made his way towards Newfoundland. He arrived in June 1720 and found 22 ships anchored. When the crew of the ships and the people of the town saw the black flag, they all fled . Roberts took everything of worth, destroyed 21 ships and the town itself. The one he did not destroy, Roberts kept. The captain continued to sail towards the banks, where he encountered another few french ships. Again, Bart destroyed all but one. This one was a 26 gun ship, that he re-christianed: The Fortune. The fortune would become his flagship in a fleet of pirate ships. The rest of the summer, the pirate captain spend taking more treasure.
Roberts and his men returned to the Caribbean, where they captured dozens of vessels. When he found a good vessel, Black Bart outfitted it for piracy. The best one became his flagship and was named Royal Fortune. At that time, Roberts had fleets of four ships working for him and the captain started referring to himself as the Admiral of the Leeuward Islands. Also when two ships full of would be pirates arrived for some pointers, Roberts took a liking to the men and gave them advice, ammunition and weapons.
Not all was good and Roberts did occasionally have problems with his crew. After killing one of his crew in a brawl, he had to fight off the friends of the man This caused a rift in the crew and the disgruntled men convinced one of his lesser captains to leave with a ship. This Thomas Anstis had a very short and unsuccessful life as a pirate on his own. Roberts himself traveled to Africa, as the Caribbean became too dangerous.
In Africa, Black Bart was able to raid ships along the coast and without any danger, he became very rich and even managed to get a 40 cannon ship as his Flagship. Black Bart was at the height of his strength during this time and could attack anyone without fear.
It was also during this time, that Roberts showed once again, how ruthless he could be. Capturing a slave ship named the Porcupine. Roberts demanded that the captain payed a ransom for the ship. The captain declined, as he did not deal with pirates and Black Bart set the ship on fire. He did not bother to have the slaves escape and they burned with the ship. Those who managed to escape got killed by the sharks in the water.
One of his ships, the Great Ranger, got send to capture a vessel that Roberts spotted. He was unable to go himself because his own ship was getting repairs. The vessel turned out to be a pirate hunter under leadership of Captain Challoner Ogle named the Swallow. A big Man of war that had been looking for Roberts. After a battle that took 2 hours, the Great Ranger got destroyed and its crew arrested. Ogle made some quick repairs to the Great Ranger and send it away as the man himself went back for Roberts.
A crew member named Armstrong had worked on the Swallow and recognized the ship. He informed the Captain, who chose to fight, rather then flee.
The Swallow fired a grapeshot and Roberts got hit in the throat. The captain died in 1722. His crew hoisted the body overboard in the water, per wishes of Black Bart. After an hour however, the pirates lost courage without their captain and they surrendered.
Although Roberts pirate career lasted only three years, he took around 400 ships and was the most successful pirate of his generation.
First of all, I am going to use a slightly other system then with my last match considering weapons. There are a lot of pirate weapons, but only two are known to be used by Black Bart. The issue with Dick Turpin is the same yet different. There are only a few weapons known to be used by highwaymen. Luckily, Dick Turpin was known to two of these weapons himself.
So both warriors were known to use only two weapons, a long range and close range weapon. Therefore I will compare these for each warrior and I will select a long range and a close range weapon to compare, that was most likely used by their respective crew. For Black Bart, these will be two weapons, known to be used by pirates of that era but with Dick Turpin I will chose weapons that were most likely used during that time by that types of people.
The Weapons
Flintlock Pistols:
The weapons of a pirate, flintlock pistols were close range fire weapons. Superior to the earlier wheel lock pistol, the flintlock ignited itself. There were different types of flintlock pistols used in combination with each other and therefore there is no definite length, weight or range. The length of these weapons could differ from five inches to eighteen inches. With the smaller sizes, a pirate could wear more of them but the bigger inches gave more range. Overall. these were small and lightweight weapons. They did tend to misfire and each pistol could only shoot one bullet before it needed to be reloaded. Black Bart was known to use flintlock pistols himself and he always carried four of them in a sash on his chest. Note that if a flintlock pistol misfired, Bart could always use them as melee weapons by hitting opponents in the head with it. Not classy but it did happen.
Spadroon:
Before I start explaining about the spadroon. I found a lot of texts and pictures that indicated that Black Bart did use a sword but I never found specified what sword it was. After looking at the most occurring picture I found of him with sword (see top picture of Black Bart) and comparing them with swords of that era. The spadroon resembles the picture the most and the spadroon is a sword used by naval officers. As a captain of his own fleet and one with a very rich taste, It is okay to assume that Bart did use a spadroon as his personal sword.As I explained, the spadroon is an officers sword and was commonly seen in the British navy. It had a stiff blade which could both cut and thrust. There is little to find about the spadroon but I did find that the quality of these weapon differ a lot. Some were made rather weak wile others were stronger build. It all depended on the maker and the country of origin. I will assume for this battle, that Black Bart had the best quality weapons.
A simple and light sword, this blade was a decent sword and could defend the officer up close if the man was in trouble. The sword of Bart had a small circular cross guard. There is little else to say because there is little information about the personal sword of Black Bart and little information about spadroons in general.
Blunderbuss:
One of the most famous weapons of the pirates is the blunderbuss. The predecessor of the modern day shotgun, the blunderbuss is a muzzle loading firearm. It was used from the 17e century up until the 18e century in both military use and civilian use. As a close range weapon, the blunderbuss was ideal on a ship and pirates quickly found use in the weapon. Being able to shoot multiple pellets at the same time, it could take out multiple opponents in one shot. This was rather useful as the weapon needed to be reloaded after a single shot. It also gets less accurate at longer ranges.
However, the blunderbuss could be loaded with all kinds of stuff. It was not uncommon for pirates to load the blunderbuss with nails, pieces of wood or other junk.
Also take a look at this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCs2RIyeUwc
Boarding axe:
The final pirate weapon we are going to discuss here is the boarding axe. The axe started as a tool on the ships, to cut rope or wood. However sailors soon found out that they could be used in battle and pirates especially found it particular useful. This led to the Boarding axe. Now both a tool and a weapon for the pirates, who used them frequently. The axe was an great way to cut someone down. The axe itself could sometimes be curved, although this did not happen a lot in america and England (the type of axes most logical in possession of Black Bart's crew) These would have more of a flared form. The axe was sharp enough to cut though thick rope in one hit. The spike was slightly curved, making it useful as hook. With it, axe could hook ropes but also climb aboard ships with more ease. It also makes for one nasty weapon.
The handle was around 22 to 28 inches tall and had a ball shape at the end so it would not slip out of the hands of the user easily. It was lighter then a normal axe and could be used one handed or two handed for a stronger blow.
X-factors
Motivation:
Training and experience:
There is little known about Bartholomew Roberts early life, as he only appeared in history when the young man was at sea. It seems unlikely that Bart had any formal training as soldier. Having said that, it was not uncommon for pirates to start in the navy but switch over to a life of piracy when the pay was disappointing. Therefore it is rather possible for Black Bart to have had men on his crew with the training. As I cannot give clear examples, this is pure speculation.
What I can talk about is the experience. What Black Bart lacked in training, he got on the job. The man showed himself to be a very good captain, as shown by the fact that he became the most successful western pirate captain.
The opponents that Black Bart and his pirates faced were commercial ships, the navy and other pirates. On sea. there it was not that easy to escape your opponent. This was of course in favor of pirates but could also work against them when they were being hunted. This meant that there was a lot of fighting on the high seas. Also let us not forget that, half the times, ships would not surrender that easily when attacked. It depended on what kind of load it had and the captain. This meant that pirates had to fight against sailors who were not only defending the load but also their lives.
This gave the pirates a lot of experience fighting professional soldiers and men defending their lives.
Tactics:
There were several tactics that pirates used to capture their prize. and Black Bart knew how to use them. However most of them were centered around surprise. The pirates would use a flag that the target ship would see as friendly and only show the pirate flag when it was too late. Or the pirates would show a white flag, which was an s.o.s flag. Nearby ships were bound by code to come to the aid, right in the pirate trap.
Pirates also did not shy away from terror tactics. When pirates replaced their own flag with a red flag, it would only mean one thing. Either the target ship had to surrender or every single person on board would be killed.Lastly I would like to discuss the pirates attacking land. Pirates preferred to stay off land as it was easier to escape, however sometimes they would attack coastal towns. appearing at night and ransacking everything before heading away on the ships again. When soldiers came in, the pirates were long gone.
Black Bart used the same kind of tactics as all the other pirates.
Links:
http://www.thewayofthepirates.com/famous-pirates/bartholomew-roberts/
https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/bartholomew-roberts
Dick Turpin
Backgroud:
Many stories have been told about Dick Turpin and his horse black Bess. He was a real life Robin Hood, who once rode at midnight to York. Too bad all those stories were just that. Stories. Who was the real Dick Turpin?
He was born as Richard Turpin in 21-09-1705 in Essex, England. He was the son of a bucher and therefore became an butcher apprentice. However instead of learning an honest trade and becoming a good citizen, Dick joined a gang in Essex called the Gregory gang (named after its leader, Gregory)
While in this gang, he started out with burglary and later on cattle theft and worse.
One particular time within the gang, he and Gregory broke into a farmhouse, where he pored boiling hot water on an old man and raped a woman. He soon also murdered a man called Tom Morris, because the man recognized him as a robber.
When one of his gang mates got captured and turned on them, telling the authorities their names. Although the group continued with their criminal activity, most of them were captured and executed. Dick managed to escape however.
Dick would not stop however and soon became known as a highway robber around the Epping forest. He would not work alone as he got a small crew with him. The group robbed several coaches around the forest but two of them got captured by the authorities and during a failed robbery, Dick shot his ally Tom King.
Alone again, Dick kept on his job as a highway men for some time before disappearing.
When he returned in 1737, Turpin had adopted the name John Palmer and had become a horse thief.
Things would turn for the worse when he shot a cock and threaten to shoot its owner on October 2 1738. He was soon arrested and was charged with stealing sheep and horses.
Turpin was moved to York castle, where he wrote Pompr Rivernall in Hempstead. This was the husband of his sister Dorothy.
His brother in law however refused to pay for the stamp-age as he had no connections in York. The letter was moved from the post office to the school, where his old school teacher recognized his handwriting.
Officials now knew that John Palmer and Dick Turpin were the same person.
John found himself hanging on the noose on April 7, 1739. It should be noted that he was very friendly and on his way to his execution and accepted his fate swiftly.
Although the man was buried in St. George Graveyard, body snatchers dug him up to sell his body. A mob found them and he got reburied at the same graveyard.
The weapons
Flintlock horse pistols:
Also known as the coach pistols, these were used during the English French war. Its a flintlock single shot pistol and has an effective range of 50 yards. Its like any other flintlock pistol but can be used on horseback, hence its name. Turpin tended to aim his pistol while sitting on horse horse as he was robbing his targets. Most of the woodcarvings and drawings of him show him in this situation. Its not known if he carried multiple but considering he was always shown with just one, its to be assumed he only carried one. If you wanted to reload this gun, you had to fill it with gunpowder and a round after every single shot. Considering reloading was rather slow, Dick had to careful with his shot and how he used it. Dick is known to have killed several people and because he managed to evade capture a lot, we can say that he was skilled with this weapon.
Rapier
Its not known if Dick actually carried a rapier in real life. However in most films and tv shows that were made about him, he carried and used one. If you think he should not have this weapon, I am sorry but i do feel that it fits him.
This weapon has a blade of around 41 inches and weights around a kilo. This long bladed weapon can be used to cut but it is mostly a thrusting weapon. With a guard that wraps around the handle, the hand is protected and as it is a single handed weapon, Turpin could hold his flintlock in the other hand. Its as swift as it is deadly. It should be noted that there have been written several historical manuscripts about using this weapon, its doubtful that Turpin studied them or had an intimate knowledge about using this weapon. Therefore i would not consider Turpin a master with the weapon and he would have only used the most basic fencing techniques.
Flintlock pistol:
For the third time this article, the weapon makes its entree. Besides a common pirate weapon, its also a known weapon of highwaymen. Therefore Turpin his crew will carry each one. While pirates carried multiple at a time, highwaymen usually only carried one at a time.
There is very little I can say that I have not mentioned before. A solid weapon that was used a lot before being replaced with other forms of firearms.
Large knife:
Sometimes the most simple weapons are the most effective. A common large knife can be found almost everywhere. This means that this weapon was easy to acquire, needed no skill to use and made for a great weapon for highwaymen. With a sharp edge, its a useful cutting tool. You can also stab with the weapon.
X-Factors
Motivation:
Money is the biggest motivation for highwaymen, How to you get a lot of money fast... robbing people. Part will also probably be sadism for some of the highwaymen and reading about some of the things that Dick Turpin has done, he might actually have enjoyed the pain and suffering he caused. However this is pure speculation and the main motivator that we can be certain on.. is money.
Training and experience:
Training is non existent. He was a butcher and would have skill with a knife but this skill would not help in combat. Furthermore he had no training at all with flintlock pistols. He did have a lot of experience due to all the robbing and killing that he did. That being said, there is a difference between killing someone who cannot defend himself against someone who can.
Tactics:
The famous stand and deliver. Highwaymen would ambush their targets. When robbing travelers, they would wait in ambush and surprise their targets. When robbing houses, they would enter at night. If your target is unprepared, you have the advantage.
Links:
https://www.thehistorypress.co.uk/articles/the-myth-of-highwayman-dick-turpin-outlives-the-facts/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Turpin
Comparing the fighters
Flintlock pistols vs flintlock horse pistol
How to compare these two flintlock pistols. Neither warrior wore any armour that could help against the weapon. Also both pistols could possible misfire and both could be used as a blunt weapon in that case.
Both had similar accurate ranges and neither fighter was a trained and perfect marksman with the weapon.
Having said that, there are a couple of small differences between the weapons. The horse pistol was a bit bigger with a longer barrel and could be used on horseback. These are small advantages that possible can help. However Black Bart has four advantages. He carried four of his pistols. If any of them misfired, he still had three others. Turpin only had one shot before reloading. Because of this, I will give a small advantage to Black Bart.
Small edge: Black Bart
Spadroon vs Rapier
Again two similar weapons to compare. Both are light one handed swords that can both trust and cut the opponent. Again, neither fighter wore any armor to protect against the blade of the other. We can only assume that both were skilled enough with the weapons.
The spadroon is slightly thicker but the rapier is a bit longer and the hilt actually protects the hand of the user. Because of these small differences, I will give it the egde. Longer weapons are slightly better but the hand protection is really important.
Small edge: Dick Turpin
Blunderbuss vs flintlock pistol
This time we do have two completely different weapons to compare. I have already talked about the flintlock pistol and you know its advantages and disadvantages. The bunderbuss has a shorter accurate range then the flintlock and just as the flintlock, it could misfire. Having said that, it will do much more damage. Due to the spread damage, it has a bigger chance to kill an opponent or even taking out two with one shot. It really is a nasty weapon.
Although the flintlock has a longer accurate range, the more damage that the blunderbuss can do gives it the edge. That shrapnel can be very nasty.
Small edge: Black Bart
Boarding axe vs large knife
For this comparison, we have two tools that got turned into weapons. The axe could be used to cut the opponent down or hook his leg or even his weapon away. The knife could be used to cut and trust at the opponent.
The knife has more ways to kill the opponent and could be hidden for a surprise attack. The boarding axe however can possible control the opponent and its cutting power is much greater then the knife. The biggest difference between the weapons is the defensive capabilities. The axe can be used to block attacks from the knife but the knife will have a hard time doing the same. Not only that but the axe can be used with two hands for a bigger impact.
Small edge: Black Bart
Motivation
Both warriors had the same motivation in money. Both wanted more and used force to get it. As for their men, we know that the pirates trusted Black Bart and we are not sure how loyal other highwaymen were to Dick Turpin. Considering he shot one, it might not have been the greatest. Having said that however we compare these two and both criminals wanted money.
Therefore there is no edge to either.
No edge
Training and experience
Neither had any formal training in battle and both relied on experience. To decide this egde, I will look at the opponents of both men. Dick Turpin mostly fought, robbed and killed travelers or homeowners. People who had very little skill and most of the time no weapons to fight back. These were easy targets and Dick would have very little resistance. You can get good with your weapons this way but you miss fighting experience.
Black Bart however took other ships by force and had to defend himself against soldiers. His targets were all armed and ready to fight for their lives. This means that Bart actually got experience in fighting and defending himself.
Edge: Black Bart
Tactics
Both fighters preferred to surprise their opponents but in different ways. As a pirate, Black Bart used his ship to trick other ships or ambush small towns. These were large scale tactics. Highwaymen preferred a smaller form by ambushing a small group. Considering both will be working with four men, Turpin's tactic will be more effective in this situation. Having said that, there is one big issue with this tactic:
The highwaymen would aim their weapons and demand money instead of starting with killing. It is possible that the first attack actually comes from the pirates in this scenario.
Small edge: Dick Turpin
The fight!
The pirate captain Bartholomew Roberts slowly made his way through the forest. He had been forced to visit a city land inwards and now it was time to return to the ship. He was accompanied by four of his men. 'What is the plan?' a younger man named Will asked. 'We will head back to the Caribbean and if we find a ship on our way....' All the men laughed at this as they knew what would happen.
Because of their laughter, they never noticed the sounds from the brushes or the shadows of the men who were sneaking towards them.
'Stand and deliver.' Dick Turpin yelled as he jumped in front of the sailors and aimed his pistol at the captain. His friends followed and surrounded the other group, each aiming a weapon.
At first, Bart looked up with surprise, before looking at the man in front of him. Someone had the gall to rob him. 'Do you know who I am, boy?' He asked the person in front of him. 'I do no not and I do not care. Now give me all your money.' Was the answer.
It was one of the pirates who fired his blunderbuss first and the highwaymen stopped a second in surprise as they saw how one of their own fell on the ground, howling in pain.
A moment of silence before everyone moved. One of the robbers ran towards the pirate who just shot and planted his large knife in the neck of the pirate.
While this counterattack happened, Dick Turpin fired his flintlock at the pirate called Will, before the latter could shoot him. This allowed for Black Bart to draw his sword and attack Dick. Using his now useless pistol to create some space, he drew his own sword to engage the pirate. This was not going according to plan.
As the two dueled, a pirate fired his blunderbuss while a highwayman fired his flintlock. The bullet from the flintlock hit the shoulder of the pirate while the pellets from the blunderbuss caved in the chest of the highwayman, His friend with the bloodied knife meanwhile was trying to kill another pirate but the knife met the boarding axe of the the pirate and as he pushed the knife away, the axe found its way into the throat of the robber, who went down instantly.
As the others were fighting, Dick and Bart were still dueling. The blades hit each other as neither man managed to cut the opponent. Dick was however pushed back with every clash. As the two swords met again, Turpin finally managed to push through and cut the chin of the pirate before he had to step back and just barely avoided a slash from the sword of the other.
Stepping back for a moment, the free hand of Black Bart went to towards his belt and as Turpin lunged to attack, he blocked the attack to follow up with aiming his flintlock pistol. The weapon went off and the bullet hit Turpin in between his eyes. 'Oh' Was all Dick Turpin could say before he fell down, never to speak again.
Bart turned around, only to stand eye in eye with the last robber, who was about to kill him as he had killed their leader. The flintlock went off with a click and nothing happened.
Taking his chance, Bart cut the hand holding the pistol and in one quick move, beheaded the last man.
Only two of his four men were left, one with a wounded shoulder. 'Come let's go to the ship. You need to see the doctor.' He said to the man.
Winner: Black Bart
Conclusion:
The two criminals were pretty similar. Both attacked innocent people for financial gain. They also carried some of the same weapons. There were just a couple big difference between the two.
Where Dick Turpin mostly robbed and seldom killed. the pirates needed to kill a lot more and had more experience actually fighting opponents. This was a case of a robber fighting a killer. Had Turpin actually killed instantly instead of trying to rob his opponent, things would have looked different.
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