Private Condolences

[Aerik Lechner]

TAG: Irina Jesart​

Aerik did not turn back when the first crack of timber split the air behind them. The fire was already beyond saving, and so was whatever the house had once been to her. He followed her through the corridors without speaking, keeping close but not crowding, his attention fixed on her movement rather than the chaos unfolding around them. The smell of smoke clung to everything. It felt final.

In the garage, he mounted his speeder as she did, movements quick and practiced. By the time the doors slid open, heat from the rising sun pressed down on them, chasing the night from the sand. Shouts echoed from within the villa, but Aerik did not look back. Whatever answers those walls held had already been burned away.

He kept pace as they tore across the dunes, engines roaring in unison. Dust billowed behind them, swallowed almost immediately by the open desert. Aerik stayed just off her side, close enough to be seen if she looked, far enough to give her space to lead. The way she rode told him everything. There was no hesitation left in her. No pull toward what had been. Only the path ahead mattered now.

After a stretch of silence, he opened the channel between them. His voice carried evenly, shaped by resolve rather than caution.

“Then we finish it,” Aerik said. There was no question in the words. Only agreement.

The sun climbed higher, light spilling across the sand as the dunes blurred beneath them. Aerik adjusted his speed without thinking, matching her stride, watching the horizon for signs of movement. Vedieu would not be unaware for long. Men like that never were. Traps would follow. Resistance would come. Aerik welcomed it with a calm he had not expected to feel.

“I am not going anywhere,” he added. “Not until this is done.”

The desert stretched out before them, vast and unforgiving, yet it felt simpler than the walls they had left behind. Aerik rode beside her, focused and ready, committed fully to the course she had chosen.

Whatever waited ahead, they would meet it together.

 

[Irina Jesart]

His presence steadied her, tempering the swirling rage within enough that she could think clearly as the sun beat down upon their backs, obliterating the cold the night held. She cast a glance back at him as he spoke, a small smile pulling at her lips. She couldn't see beyond the destruction of House Vedieu, couldn't even begin to fathom what would await them at the academy or what his father would do, all she hoped was that he would be with her, because she could face anything with Aerik at her side.

She shifted her eyes back to the horizon as a structure began to grow from it, far larger and grander than her home had been, Vedieu's home was not a simple villa, it was a grand estate, tall towers of marble supported lookouts with high walls to keep their precious wealth safe. Wealth they had stolen over time, power they had snatched from others. It was an estate built on the ash and bones of others.

A single shot cracked through the air, screaming so close to Irina's head she felt the heat from it, surprise made her jerk suddenly to the right as the speeder threatened to crash. "Snipers!" she yelled at Aerik as another shot and then another followed, each dangerously close. There was no cover between them and the wall, and turning back would have been worse. She flattened herself against the bikes body, pulling her lightsaber from her hip, glancing to make sure Aerik was still with her before she let the bike sway, making herself a harder target.

When another shot rang close, her lightsaber snapped out the red blade catching the bolt and sending it back to its sender.

Aerik Lechner

 

[Aerik Lechner]

TAG: Irina Jesart​

Aerik heard the shot a heartbeat before Irina shouted. The crack cut clean through the air, sharp and unmistakable, and his body reacted before thought caught up. He dropped lower against the speeder, shifting his weight as he angled closer to her position, keeping pace without crossing her line. The second shot passed close enough that its heat washed over his cheek.

His lightsaber was already in his hand.

The blade ignited in a flare of fiery orange light, bright against the rising sun. It cast sharp reflections across the sand and the stone ahead as Aerik leaned out just enough to catch the angle of the fire. His eyes tracked the distant glint along the walls and towers of the estate. Vedieu had prepared this approach carefully, with elevated positions and long sightlines designed to punish anyone who advanced without cover.

Another bolt screamed toward them.

Aerik snapped his blade up and caught it cleanly, the impact shuddering through his arm. He redirected the shot in a smooth motion, sending it back toward the tower from which it had been fired. A flash of light marked the impact as stone shattered near the firing position.

“Left tower,” he called, voice steady over the engine noise. “Two positions. High angle.”

He pushed the speeder harder, riding the sway with controlled balance and keeping himself just off Irina’s flank. Each movement was deliberate, shaped by training rather than panic. His blade came up again to intercept another shot, this one deflected wide into the wall to force the shooters to adjust their position.

The estate loomed closer with every second, marble walls filling his vision as the ground blurred beneath them. Heat pressed down from above, and the strain in his muscles built as he leaned into the ride, but his focus never wavered. Irina was still ahead of him, still moving, still in control.

Another bolt came in low.

Aerik twisted and caught it, sending the energy skidding into the sand beside them. He did not slow or look back.

“I’ve got you,” he said into the wind and engine roar, his tone even and certain. “Keep going.”

The orange blade burned bright at his side as they closed the distance, forming a moving shield as Vedieu’s walls drew nearer and the attack intensified.

 

[Irina Jesart]

As the marble walls drew closer, and the rate of fire intensified she could feel Aerik shifting behind her, hear the thrum of his own blade cracking as it cast bolts aside. Her eyes lifted to where he called out and the fury that had brought them here, that had led her to make such a bold move without thinking the consequences through coursed through her. The red blade retracted, the cylinder form which it had emitted clipping back to her belt as she let instinct lead her.

Her rage had gotten them this far, she would let it carry them through. To falter no would be a death sentence to both of them and she would not have it. the fire came to easily, grew too quickly, her focus on the speeder fell away, it wobbled dangerously as she threw the fire skywards, smoke and flame streaking through the air as she seized the bike controls again. It struck to low, scorching the marble beneath the snipers.

She looked back at Aerik. "I need both hands!"

It was madness, all of it. Attacking without a plan, without knowing what was waiting for them yet he never once faltered, he never once thought it wasn't possible for both of them to survive this. She needed that unwavering trust now more than ever. She let the speeder slow enough that it fell levle with his. Another bolt cracked between them forcing them apart before she manager to pull back alongside him.

Irina didn't ask if he was ready, she didn't check to see if he understood her intent, she simply rose from her seat and leapt for the back of his bike.

Aerik Lechner

 

[Aerik Lechner]

TAG: Irina Jesart​

Aerik caught her meaning the instant she shouted. There was no time to look back or ask for clarity. He adjusted his speed by feel alone, easing his speeder just enough to bring it level with hers while keeping the nose steady under the barrage of fire. A bolt cracked past his shoulder and another screamed in low. His blade snapped up and caught it, the fiery orange light flaring as he sent the shot skidding into the sand instead of risking a return toward Irina.

He kept the blade moving as she shifted. Another bolt came from the left tower and Aerik twisted his wrist, angling the saber to knock it wide before it could tear into the bike's side. The hum of the blade stayed constant, rising and falling with each deflection, a steady rhythm beneath the chaos. When her speeder slowed, he matched it without hesitation, still batting shots aside as the distance between them closed.

The moment Irina leapt, Aerik compensated on instinct. He rose slightly from the seat to counterbalance the shift in weight while catching a third bolt that came in high. The impact jolted his arm, but the shot went wide, exploding harmlessly against the marble wall above. Her boots struck the rear of his bike hard, and the frame shuddered. Aerik held it steady, one hand locked on the throttle while the other came back just long enough to grab her forearm and pull her fully onto the bike.

Another shot cracked between them as she settled in behind him. Aerik leaned hard to the right, blade flashing again as he intercepted it inches from the engine housing. The bolt ricocheted into the wall and showered them in stone chips. He did not slow. Once she was secure, he surged forward, pushing the bike harder as the wall rushed up to meet them.

With Irina behind him, the angles worsened. Fire came faster now, bolts snapping through the air in quick succession. Aerik kept his blade up and moving, catching one shot and then another, sometimes sending them wide, sometimes back into the stone to force the snipers to shift. His grip tightened, muscles burning as he balanced speed, direction, and defense all at once.

"Hold on," he called over the engines and the hiss of blaster fire, his voice steady despite the strain.

They were close enough now that the snipers' vantage began to fail. Shots struck lower, scraping marble instead of finding their mark. Aerik deflected one more bolt that came in from almost straight above, angling the saber sharply to keep it from dropping onto them. The blade burned bright beside him, a constant shield as the wall filled his vision.

He drove them straight toward the base, blade still moving, still answering every shot that dared come close. Whatever Irina intended next, Aerik kept them alive long enough for her to do it, trust unwavering as fire and stone blurred together around them.

 

[Irina Jesart]

Irina dropped into the seat behind him, giving her trust entirely to him to keep them safe. Blaster fire intensified, the bolts screaming as they desperately tried to take them down before they reached the doors, another obstacle, but one she already had a plan for. First they needed to deal with these snipers. She closed her eyes, letting the noise of blaster fire and the whine of the speeder beneath them fall away until all she could hear was her rage rushing through her ears.

Dark eyes snapped open, fire swirling around their edges as fire erupted between her hands, she rose to her feet, the frame groaning as she did. the fire swelled as she raised it above her head and threw it with shout of effort. It arced high, clipping the top of the marble wall and spilling into the nest. She sank down again as the distant screams told her it had done its job.

Her head whipped round, reaching a hand back towards her speeder, seizing it in the force she yanked it towards them, redirecting it at the last moment to hurl it ahead towards the doors. It bounced once, twice and then collided with the gates with an explosion of metal and flame.

Aerik Lechner

 

[Aerik Lechner]

TAG: Irina Jesart​

Aerik felt her weight settle fully behind him, the shift familiar now, and he leaned into it without thinking. Trust flowed one way through the Force and another through instinct. He adjusted his grip, widened his stance, and kept the speeder straight as the rate of fire climbed again. Bolts cut through the air from above and ahead, some wild, some precise. His blade stayed in motion, fiery orange flashing in tight arcs as he deflected shot after shot, sometimes knocking them aside, sometimes sending them screaming back into marble where they burst in showers of stone.

The moment she rose behind him, he knew what she was doing. The frame protested beneath the sudden change in balance, and Aerik compensated immediately, easing the throttle and shifting his weight forward to keep them from pitching. A bolt came in low and fast. He twisted his wrist and caught it clean, the impact shuddering through his arm as the shot flew wide. Another followed from the right. The saber snapped up again, never pausing, never faltering.

Heat washed over his back as her fire gathered. Even without looking, he felt it build, felt the air thicken as something violent took shape behind him. He kept his eyes forward, jaw set, blade still moving as the last of the sniper fire rained down. Then the fire left her hands.

Aerik braced as the blast arced overhead. A final bolt screamed toward them and he cut it aside at the last instant before the explosion hit the wall. The impact rolled across the estate in a wave of sound and heat. Screams followed, distant but unmistakable. The blaster fire from above ceased all at once.

He did not slow.

Irina dropped back down, and Aerik surged forward, pushing the speeder harder as the gates rushed toward them. His blade stayed up, ready, scanning for any last shot that might come from a hidden angle. None did. Whatever had been watching from the walls was either dead or fleeing.

The sudden pull in the Force registered a heartbeat before the explosion. Aerik glanced just in time to see her abandoned speeder hurtling ahead of them, torn from the sand and redirected with brutal precision. It struck the gates in a violent burst of metal and flame, the shockwave rippling back across the ground.

Aerik rode it out, leaning into the blast as debris scattered across their path. He cut power just enough to keep control, blade still raised in case the gates answered with fire of their own. Smoke billowed outward, flames licking up twisted metal as the entrance collapsed inward.

Only then did Aerik lower the saber slightly, breath steady despite the rush of heat and noise. He angled the speeder toward the breach, ready to drive straight through the wreckage.

He did not look back at her. He did not need to.

Whatever waited beyond those gates, they were already committed, and Aerik intended to see them through it together.