The Kodiak
Boots pounded the coliseum floor, a cacophony to match the cheers of the crowd. The heroes of the Oceanian Miliary surged forward, seeking their provided opponents. Seeking a reason to keep fighting. Combat was their trade; war their pastime. Few of them knew anything else. Where then would they go without this charade? It provided the people an outlet for their desire for violence and blood, to be sure, but it gave Oceania's soldiers a reason to
be. To enact violence. To keep one's body and mind honed.
With great strides, Curtis crossed the plane of the gateway, entering the coliseum. Somewhere within were the Eurasians conscripts, forced to fight against their oppressors, and his arm servos whined in anticipation.
Or maybe it was the pathways being opened. Walls shifted, revealing a rather more pressing issue than Eurasians. Curtis pulled up hard at the sight of the lions, blinking in hesitation; he couldn't recall the game master introducing wildlife before.
There was no time for assessment. Powerful limbs pushed the feline forward, with claws extended and fangs glistening, and it leapt for them. Quick as thinking, Curtis shifted his path to intercept. He turned clockwise, presenting the beast his left side as he pulled back good right arm. Then, as the lion's arc brought it back down toward Earth, Curtis attacked. Hips leading the turn, his fist shot forward, a veritable cannonball. Feline bones crunched beneath the impact, and its trajectory shifted left. It rolled to the ground, the left side of its face a mess of mangled red tissue and shattered white bone.
Smiling grimly, the Lieutenant Colonel resumed a fighting stance. He had an opponent, something against which to test his abilities and upgrades. So far, things were looking good. But the lion stood again, savage red fury replacing the blinding white pain in its eyes. The animals were likely genetically enhanced themselves, Curtis mused as he began slowly picking his way around the field, and a single blow would probably not serve to put it down. As if you confirm, the lion stood, if shakily, and bared a blood-filled maw.