Private Codebreaker

[Aerik Lechner]

Wearing: This | Weapons: Lightsaber | Knife
TAG: Eira Dyn​

The shuttle dropped out of hyperspace with little ceremony, the stars beyond the forward viewport sharpening into points as the navigation computer began plotting their approach toward the station ahead.

Aerik looked up from the datapad in his hand.

Their target was already there.

The Thyferran logistics officer had arrived several hours earlier and was scheduled to depart aboard a commercial transport the following morning. According to the intelligence provided to them, the man carried current authentication protocols for cargo moving through Thyferran space. Aerik did not know why his master wanted them, though the instructions Darth Prazutis had given him made it clear that simply stealing the codes was not enough. The officer could not know they had been compromised. Whatever Aerik and Eira did, the man needed to continue his journey without reason to report anything unusual.

That complicated things.

Aerik passed the datapad toward Eira so she could look over the information herself. He had already read through it several times during the journey, committing the officer's itinerary and the important details to memory. There were plenty of opportunities to get close to him before his departure, but deciding which one presented the least risk was something they could do once they had seen the station for themselves.

It was strange being paired with Eira again.

Their assignment at the Jutrand Academy seemed much longer ago than it actually was. Neither of them had gone looking for Jedi that day. They had been students completing an assignment when everything changed, leaving both of them with an experience neither could have expected when they started.

Their first Jedi kills.

Aerik had changed since then. Becoming Darth Prazutis's apprentice had ensured that much. His master demanded more from him than anything the Academy ever had, and Aerik had learned quickly that understanding an assignment meant paying attention to more than the objective written on a datapad. The codes mattered, but keeping the Thyferran officer unaware mattered just as much.

His fiery orange eyes settled on the station growing larger beyond the viewport before shifting toward Eira.

Aerik's voice remained even. "We cannot afford to draw attention."

There was nothing amusing about it. If anything, their last assignment together had already proven how easily things could spiral when restraint failed.

Aerik leaned back in his seat.

"So how do you want to do this?"

 

[Eira Dyn]

Armour Mode: Assassin (without the mask for now)
Equipment: Marwolaeth Ddu, Lethal Pursuers, Vibrosword, Blaster pistol
Tag: Aerik Lechner

Staring out at the window, observing the Hyperspace, Eira's mind lingered on her sister. They were heading to where her sibling had sided with, the High Republic space. Her sister was a Jedi. Turned that way because of Eira or so the traitor claimed. Eira still felt convinced that her sibling did it to one up Eira all over again. Demonstrate how perfect she was to then only point out how much Eira was failing. Well, Eira had swore to prove her sister wrong, to punish the High Republic, their Jedi Order and Cerys. To make them all suffer Eira's wrath for failing to recognise the danger she posed. Eira wondered if Cerys knew. If her sister was even a little aware of how close death was clenching its fist around her order.

Perhaps when Eira was standing atop the burning dead Jedi, then her sister would realise the errors she made on Moorja. The error she made trying to be Eira's sister. Eira had no need for family or sisters. Her parents were fortunate to live so far from Sith space, otherwise Eira would have gleefully burnt their home with them inside to demonstrate her dedication to the Order. Her fingers tapped on the armrest of the chair. Itching to get into action and not be lingering around.

Handed the datapad, her eyes scanned over it. Thoughts of her sister, of their family, of her revenge were put aside. Eira needed to work on going through the details of the mission. She would not be the cause of failure. Not for a mission this important and be given a chance to demonstrate her worth to another great Sith Lord in Darth Prazutis. She also did not wish to be shown up by Aerik, someone she had worked with once before during their academy days, it seemed a long time ago, and clearly the other apprentice had grown considerably since then. Less boy than he had been, though she was not sure of his skills. Eira remembered he had some canine traits, it was easy to remember that since it had been impressive and Eira knew she needed to commit it to memory to prevent being surprised in the future by Aerik. Should they ever had to have sparred one another to survive.

"Of course, even a whiff of Sith presence and the Jedi swarms the area, they sit so bored that they wait to hear of our presence." Eira stated firmly, her voice husky and serious in tone, "stealth is paramount. Keeping our presence in the Force to a minimum, being invisible and ensuring that this officer does not die. Unfortunately we must demonstrate a high amount of restraint here." Eira sighed, she was always a little more ruthless and bloodthirsty when it came to Jedi and their allies. It was the message that she desired to broadcast.

Anywhere, anytime, anyone.

Looking to Aerik, "how are your skills in stealth and being invisible?" Eira asked, curious to see what path this Sith had taken in comparison to her own path.

 

[Aerik Lechner]

Wearing: This | Weapons: Lightsaber | Knife
TAG: Eira Dyn​

Aerik's fiery orange eyes shifted from the station toward Eira when she asked the question. For a moment he simply looked at her, one brow lifting slightly.

She had known since that day at the academy what he was. Apparently she had forgotten what that meant.

"I hunt."

The answer came simply. Aerik did not need to embellish it. Long before Darth Prazutis had taken him as an apprentice, Aerik had learned the value of approaching prey without being seen, heard, or scented. A wolf that announced itself rarely ate. His heightened senses gave him an advantage in finding prey, but getting close enough to strike required patience. It meant knowing when to move and when to remain perfectly still, sometimes for much longer than instinct wanted.

This would simply be a different kind of hunt.

Aerik looked back toward the station as it grew steadily larger through the viewport. There would be cameras instead of open ground, security patrols instead of competing predators, and thousands of people whose presence could either complicate their approach or conceal it. Their prey would not know he was being hunted, and keeping it that way was the most important part of the assignment.

"The Force isn't what I'm worried about. We can keep our presence buried." Aerik reached for the datapad again and brought the logistics officer's itinerary onto the display. "It's everything else. Cameras, access records, witnesses. If someone starts looking at his movements afterward, we can't be the thing that doesn't belong."

His thumb moved across the display until the officer's accommodations appeared beside the itinerary. There were several gaps in the man's schedule, though Aerik was reluctant to build a plan around information provided by someone who had never actually followed the target. They needed to see how the man moved, where his security positioned themselves and whether the device containing the protocols ever left his person.

Aerik had no intention of rushing that part.

"We follow him first. Don't touch anything. Don't give him a reason to remember us." His attention returned to Eira. "Once we know his habits, we'll know where he's vulnerable."

There was something familiar about being beside her again. Jutrand had been different. They had been students then, sent out on an assignment neither had expected to become a fight for their lives. Jedi had found them, and whatever plans they had carried into that mission had ceased to matter.

This time they were the ones choosing when the fight began.

If there even needed to be one.

The corner of Aerik's mouth pulled faintly upward as he looked Eira in the eye.

"We just need a cover story if that's the angle we're gonna take."