Private Dead Drop

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Odessen

Equipment:
Vanguard Robes | Lightsaber | Shoto | Cybernetic Arm | Tic

/// ENCRYPTED TRANSMISSION ///
FROM: Acier Moonbound
TO: Kinley Pryse
ENCRYPTION: AES-512 // ONE-TIME KEY // AUTO-PURGE

Pryse,

I'm out. Not legally.

Need your help moving some cargo. Quiet job. No credits, but I'm cashing in that favor.

Meet me at the attached coordinates on Odessen.

Bring a freighter with enough room for multiple containers.

I'll explain the rest when you get here.

-- Ace
/// END TRANSMISSION ///

Odessen was quieter than Ace remembered. Wind rolled through endless forests, carrying the scent of damp earth and pine across weathered stone. Ancient roads had long since surrendered to the wilderness, their fractured surfaces disappearing beneath moss and creeping undergrowth. Here and there, broken towers and forgotten fortifications emerged from the trees before vanishing again, little more than ghosts swallowed by time.

Ace waited beside the weathered remains of what had once been a small landing platform. It was isolated enough to avoid unwanted attention while still offering an easy approach from orbit, a convenient place to meet before disappearing into the forests beyond.

Standing motionless at the edge of the landing pad, Ace let his gaze wander across the forest canopy stretching toward the horizon. A lot had changed since he'd last set foot on Odessen. The Hidden Path, as far as he knew, was gone. Meanwhile, the Vanguard was only beginning and progress was coming along quietly. A safehouse secured and supplies gathered a crate at a time.

The Hidden Path hadn't kept everything beneath its main outpost. Supply depots had been scattered across Odessen, hidden away in case they were ever needed. When discussions turned toward what the Vanguard would need to survive, Ace had proposed searching for whatever remnants might still exist. Assuming scavengers hadn't already stripped them clean, even a single forgotten depot could spare months of building.

Buried among fragmented records and forgotten logistics manifests lay the coordinates to one such cache. Whether anything remained there... was another matter entirely. Retrieving it alone would've been manageable, but moving it without attracting attention wouldn't. Which was why he'd called Kinley.

Lorn had understood the necessity of the mission. He'd also understood the risk. The dark side still lingered. Every day without it demanded conscious effort, and every time Ace reached for the Force, there remained the possibility of hearing old whispers answer in return.

Even so, the Vanguard couldn't afford to leave capable people idle while waiting for certainty that might never come. So Lorn had trusted him enough to let him carry this one alone. Ace intended to justify that faith.

His eyes lifted toward the overcast sky, waiting for the first sign of an approaching ship.​

 

[Kinley Pryse]

You've been hit by... you've been struck by...

If Kinley Pryse is in town, somebody's about to have a very expensive day.​

Kinley never answered the transmission. She rarely answered anybody who sent one. If somebody knew her well enough to call in a favor, they knew silence was the closest thing she'd ever give to an RSVP.

The sky rumbled. At first it was only a distant growl beyond the clouds. Then a streak of polished durasteel cut through the gray, engines flaring blue as the Canto's Belle descended with the lazy confidence of a ship that had survived far too many things to worry about a little atmosphere.

Repulsors hissed as the Belle settled onto the forgotten platform exactly where Ace had asked, kicking leaves and pine needles into a swirling halo around her landing struts. The engines wound down with a satisfied whine.

The boarding ramp lowered with a hydraulic sigh as boots hit metal.

Kinley Pryse came down the ramp one unhurried step at a time, thumbs hooked in her gun belt, duster shifting in the breeze. Her battered cowboy hat sat low enough to shade her eyes, and a toothpick rolled lazily from one corner of her mouth to the other.

She gave the forest a slow look and then her eyes settled on Ace. She stopped a few paces away, cocking one boot against a cracked section of duracrete. A grin tugged at the corner of her mouth then widened into something dangerous.

"Well, look who's still breathin'."

The corner of Kinley's mouth fully curled into a crooked grin. She looked utterly unbothered by the fact that she'd just landed in the middle of what had once been one of the galaxy's best secret sanctuaries for heroes. Then again, sanctuaries never bothered Kinley Pryse. As far as she was concerned, the most dangerous thing on this forgotten landing pad had just walked down the Canto's Belle's ramp.

She tipped the brim of her hat toward Ace.

"So... where we headed, darlin'?"

Acier Moonbound​

A Smooth Criminal

 

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Odessen

Equipment:
Vanguard Robes | Lightsaber | Shoto | Cybernetic Arm | Tic

The distant rumble reached him before the ship did. Perched atop a weathered section of the landing platform, Tic gave an inquisitive trill, photoreceptors lifting toward the overcast sky a heartbeat before Ace's gaze followed.

Ace's gaze lifted from the valley, following the sound as it cut through the low cloud cover. A freighter emerged from the gray, descending with practiced ease before settling onto the landing platform. Leaves and pine needles danced across the stone beneath the wash of its repulsors as the engines gradually fell silent.

He watched the boarding ramp lower, then quietly folded his arms across his chest as Kinley Pryse made her unhurried descent. Beside him, Tic emitted a series of cheerful whistles, rocking lightly on his feet as if greeting the arriving ship himself.

A faint smirk tugged at one corner of his mouth. "Been a while, huh?"

The tip of her hat earned a small nod in return. She wasted little time getting to the point. Ace's smile lingered for only a moment before fading back into its usual calm. One of the things he'd always appreciated about Kinley was that she never buried a conversation beneath meaningless pleasantries. If there was work to do, she preferred getting on with it.

He jerked his head toward the forests stretching beyond the landing pad before turning to lead the way. Boots crunched softly over weathered stone before giving way to damp earth beneath the towering pines.

"There's an abandoned outpost nearby. Group I used to run with operated out of it when the Empire controlled the Core." His voice remained even. "They're gone now, but I have a hunch they left something behind."

The forest swallowed them quickly. Branches swayed overhead as shafts of muted daylight filtered through the canopy, painting shifting patterns across the narrow trail. Somewhere deeper within the trees, unseen wildlife called to one another before falling silent once more. He wasn't in any hurry to fill the quiet.

The outpost wasn't far. Ten minutes on foot at most. Tic remained a few paces ahead, quietly scanning the path as they continued on.

Ace eventually broke the silence. "...How's your dad?"

Kinley Pryse ​

 

[Kinley Pryse]

You've been hit by... you've been struck by...

Kinley Pryse could steal the bolts off a blast door and convince you it opened better afterward​

Kinley answered the question the same way she answered most things.

With silence.

Her boots crunched softly over damp needles as she moved between the pines, one gloved hand lazily hooked through her belt near the worn grip of her blaster. The forest was quiet save for the wind stirring through the branches and the occasional chirp from Tic somewhere ahead. She seemed perfectly content to let the silence stretch.

It wasn't that she hadn't heard him. She had. She just didn't know what to do with it.

People asked Kinley Pryse for jobs. They asked for favors. They asked how she'd pulled off impossible heists, how she'd escaped disastrous odds, how much she'd charge. They asked if the stories were true.

Nobody asked about her.

That was the price of staying alive.

People knew the swagger. The crooked grin. The toothpick. The woman who walked into impossible situations as if she'd already survived them. They knew the reputation she'd spent years carefully building.

They didn't know Kinley, and she'd worked damn hard to keep it that way.

Somewhere along the way, though, Acier had slipped through the cracks. She couldn't say when it happened. Kinley had a soft spot for him that she hated. Maybe it was the fact he helped her dad. Maybe it was the simple fact he'd never asked her to be anything other than herself.

Whatever the reason, he'd become the closest thing she had to someone she trusted in this galaxy, and that was dangerous.

Connections like that got people killed. Black Sun had taught her that lesson long before she'd ever learned to shoot. She probably should've put a bolt through the kid the first second she'd laid eyes on him.

The thought tugged a faint smirk onto her lips. It faded just as quickly.

She slowed almost imperceptibly.

"...Fine."

The word came out rough, like she'd had to dig for it. Her eyes stayed on the trail ahead. Another few steps passed before she spoke again, quieter this time.

"...Thanks."

The word sounded foreign in her mouth. She cleared her throat, almost annoyed with herself. She never looked at him.

For Kinley Pryse, that was about as close to a heartfelt conversation as anyone was ever likely to get.




Acier Moonbound

A Smooth Criminal

 

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Odessen

Equipment:
Vanguard Robes | Lightsaber | Shoto | Cybernetic Arm | Tic

Ace noticed the silence almost immediately. His eyes stayed fixed on the trail ahead, following the occasional flash of white as Tic bounded several meters in front of them. If Kinley didn't want to talk about it, that was her business. He wasn't going to force the issue, so he simply carried on walking.

After a while, Kinley's voice finally broke the quiet. Ace didn't look back. A few more measured steps carried them along the trail before she quietly added a "thanks".

"No problem." That was enough.

Gradually, the dense woodland began to thin until the trees opened into a broad clearing. Across the open ground, built directly into the surrounding cliffs, the Hidden Alliance outpost came into view.

Even from this distance, it dominated the landscape. A vast circular command structure sat atop the rocky escarpment, its smooth durasteel exterior protruding from the cliff face as though the mountain itself had been carved around it. Beneath the main complex, reinforced hangar bays and massive blast doors disappeared deep into the stone, while two defensive towers flanked the entrance from elevated platforms overlooking the valley below.

It was still a fair distance away, sitting just beyond the far edge of the clearing where Ace and Kinley now stood.

"That's the place." He said quietly. "Was an underground network of rebels, soldiers, Jedi... and a kriff ton more."

His gaze lingered on the old base for another moment before he closed his eyes. The Force flowed outward in invisible threads, stretching through the surrounding forest, across stone, abandoned machinery, and empty corridors. Familiar currents brushed against his awareness as his senses expanded further and further.

Then the darkness found him. A cold whisper at the edge of his consciousness. Patient. Tempting. Promising strength if he would simply stop resisting. His jaw tightened and for a heartbeat, he acknowledged it.

Then he deliberately turned away. The effort wasn't effortless, every time he rejected it felt like forcing himself to walk away from an instinct his body still remembered. Slowly, the whisper faded back into the background as he continued searching elsewhere.

A few moments later, his eyes opened.

"I can sense others nearby." His attention remained fixed on the distant outpost. "...Looters maybe."

He lowered his gaze toward the little BD unit waiting expectantly near the edge of the clearing.

"Tic."

The droid looked up immediately with an inquisitive chirp.

"Can you scout it out? Try not to get caught."

Tic answered with an enthusiastic string of beeps before darting into the undergrowth, disappearing between the trees with surprising speed for something so small.

Ace watched the little droid vanish into the forest before turning his attention back toward the distant base. With nothing else to do until Tic returned, he wandered over to the nearest tree and leaned against its rough bark. Folding his arms across his chest, he settled into an easy, patient stance without another word.

Kinley Pryse​

 

[Kinley Pryse]

You've been hit by... you've been struck by...

Kinley Pryse is totally committed to disturbing the peace​

"I can sense others nearby." His attention remained fixed on the distant outpost. "...Looters maybe."

Kinley flashed a crooked grin around the toothpick resting between her teeth. "Isn't that what we are?"

She didn't sound the least bit bothered by the idea. Truth be told, she wasn't. After you'd robbed an orphanage or two, stripping an abandoned outpost barely registered on the conscience.

They watched the little droid bounce off into the distance until silence settled between them. Normally, Kinley didn't mind silence. Hell, she preferred it. But this silence felt different. A small, unwelcome part of her insisted she should ask about his life, the way he'd asked about hers. It was the polite thing to do.

Politeness got people killed.

She'd learned a long time ago to cut those instincts out before they had the chance to take root. Curiosity led to attachment. Attachment led to hesitation. Hesitation got you dead. Even the Jedi knew that.

She hated that the thought had crossed her mind at all. Just when she had decided to ignore it completely, she found herself talking. "You look like hell, kid." It wasn't a dig, the way it might have been with someone else, but it also didn't sound detached enough for her liking.


Acier Moonbound

A Smooth Criminal

 

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Odessen

Equipment:
Vanguard Robes | Lightsaber | Shoto | Cybernetic Arm | Tic

Ace shook his head, a faint smile threatening to form despite himself.

"Less looting." His eyes remained on the distant outpost. "More... repossession."

It wasn't as though he held legal claim to anything waiting inside the outpost. Whatever authority the Hidden Path had once possessed had disappeared with the organization itself. Still, he'd been one of them. He'd fought beside them, bled beside them, and called their sanctuaries home for a time. If there was anything left hidden beneath those ruins, he'd rather see it serve another cause than rot away beneath decades of dust or disappear into someone else's cargo hold.

Silence settled over the clearing once more and Ace found he didn't mind it. It surprised him when the smuggler broke the silence, but what she said didn't.

He inclined his head ever so slightly as a quiet, humorless breath escaped through his nose.

"Pretty sure that's just the way I look now."

The words were delivered with his usual deadpan expression, though the faint hint of amusement behind them was difficult to miss. He lifted his gaze from the distant outpost and glanced sideways toward her.

"I guess this is the part where I tell you that you look exactly the same." A small beat passed before the corner of his mouth twitched again. "Not a care in the galaxy, or something."

Kinley Pryse ​

 

[Kinley Pryse]

You've been hit by... you've been struck by...

Morals are expensive. Luckily Kinley Pryse shops second handed ​

She snorted and put the toothpick back in her mouth. "That's me. Hard to rattle." It was the truth, but only because it had to be. The girl Kinley had once been was long gone, forged into something harder by the brutal fight to survive in Black Sun.

"So what's the plan once we find this thing?" Kinley rolled the toothpick across her tongue. "Hand it off to some noble cause? Or have you finally come to your senses and decided the galaxy can save itself for once?"

Normally, she wouldn't have bothered asking. It wasn't her business. Someone paid her to retrieve something, she retrieved it, and whatever happened after that belonged to someone else. That was the arrangement, and arrangements kept people alive.

But nobody was paying her today.

Maybe that was why she asked.

Or maybe she just wanted to keep him talking.

The thought caught her off guard. She'd spent so many years burying the parts of herself that cared, about people, about their stories, about anything beyond the next job, that she wasn't always sure where the act ended and she began anymore.


Acier Moonbound

A Smooth Criminal

 

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Odessen

Equipment:
Vanguard Robes | Lightsaber | Shoto | Cybernetic Arm | Tic

Ace looked ahead instead of answering immediately, his gaze settling on the broken horizon beyond the valley. For a few seconds, he simply watched it all in silence.​

​

"...Nah. Not exactly." The admission came quietly.​

​

It wasn't really about saving the galaxy this time. Not anymore. There had been a time when he'd convinced himself that was the goal. That every compromise, every lie, every terrible decision had been made in service of something bigger.​

​

Now he knew better. It was about responsibility. About owning what he'd helped unleash, and trying, however imperfectly, to clean up the mess he'd helped create.​

​

"But..." He continued. "I guess you could call what we're doing next 'handing it off to a noble cause'."​

​

A faint shrug lifted one shoulder.​

​

"Or... at least something I think can actually make a difference."​

​

His expression remained calm, almost solemn, before he finally glanced sideways toward Kinley.​

​

"...Guess we're creatures of habit, huh?"​

​

The corner of his mouth threatened the smallest hint of a smile. She was still smuggling. He always ended up joining somebody's fight. The words lingered between them for a moment before Ace looked back toward the ruins.​

​

"You ever--"​

​

A familiar series of cheerful electronic chirps cut him off. Ace turned just as Tic bounded back into view, the BD-unit hopping over a chunk of collapsed durasteel before springing neatly onto his shoulder. The little droid gave a satisfied trill before projecting a compact blue holomap into the space between them.​

​

The abandoned outpost materialized in miniature. Corridors, entrances, collapsed sections... and several blinking life-sign markers moving through the interior.​

​

"Figures." Ace muttered.​

​

His eyes tracked the patrol routes in silence. Months ago, he wouldn't have thought twice. He'd have walked through the front entrance, lightsaber in hand, and dealt with whoever stood between him and the objective.​

​

Now... now the thought simply felt exhausting. Violence still had its place. Sometimes there wasn't another option, but he stopped enjoying it. His eyes swept over the map one final time before he reached out and collapsed the projection with a small gesture.​

​

He nodded toward the outpost. "We're gonna have to fight our way in." Then he looked back at Kinley. "You able?"​

​

Kinley Pryse​

 

[Kinley Pryse]

You've been hit by... you've been struck by...

Death's collected kings, admirals, and warlords, but It still hasn't figured out how to collect Kinley Pryse

​

Kinley snorted and rolled her eyes.

Her eyes stayed on the battered outpost instead of him. "You keep trying to fix the galaxy."

She gave a lazy shrug.

"But some things aren't fixable."

For a second she was quiet, studying the ruined walls through narrowed eyes. The smile he'd almost managed earned the ghost of one from her, crooked and gone before it settled.

The little droid returned, chirping proudly as the blue holomap sprang to life. Kinley leaned in just enough to study it, one brow climbing as the life-signs blinked across the display.

"We're gonna have to fight our way in." Then he looked back at Kinley. "You able?"

"Finally, you show a girl a good time." She gave him a lopsided grin and checked the weapon at her side. Kinley didn't mind dirty work. In Black Sun, you got used to it fast, or you got killed. She couldn't say she was a fan of running up against odds she didn't know, but she believed in paying her debts, and she owed Acier.




Acier Moonbound

A Smooth Criminal

 

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Odessen

Equipment:
Vanguard Robes | Lightsaber | Shoto | Cybernetic Arm | Tic

Ace held Kinley's gaze for a moment before giving a single nod.

"Good."

He pushed himself away from the tree, stepping past her toward the edge of the clearing.Whatever the Hidden Path had left behind was waiting somewhere beneath it. So were the looters. His left hand settled naturally around the hilt of his lightsaber, though he made no move to draw it. Not yet.

"We'll make this quick." He said, his voice calm. "I don't wanna spend any longer here than we have to."

With that, he started across the clearing. The open ground offered little cover, forcing them to rely on speed rather than concealment. Wind rolled through the tall grass around their boots as the forgotten fortress steadily grew larger with every step. Up close, the scars of time became impossible to miss.

Ace slowed as they reached the shadow of the outer wall. The massive blast doors remained sealed, but one of the smaller maintenance entrances hung partially open, its locking mechanism long since forced apart. Fresh scrape marks scored the metal around the frame. Boot prints disturbed the dirt beneath it.

He crouched beside the entrance, running his fingers briefly over the damaged locking bolts before looking into the darkness beyond.

"Fresh." He rose smoothly, glancing once toward Kinley. "They're inside."

Without another word, Ace slipped through the breached doorway, every step measured as he entered the abandoned outpost, his senses reaching ahead through the Force while his eyes adjusted to the darkness within.

Ace moved carefully, his footsteps barely disturbing the silence. Every few meters his eyes drifted over old blast doors and faded directional markers, piecing together a layout he hadn't walked in a year. Little had changed. Time had simply done what time always did.

Somewhere deeper inside the outpost came the distant scrape of metal against durasteel. Then muffled voices, too indistinct to make out the words, but close enough that they were no longer alone.

Ace immediately slowed, raising a hand to signal a halt before easing himself toward the nearest intersection. He leaned just enough to peer around the corner.

The corridor beyond opened into what had once been a logistics hub. Supply crates had been dragged into untidy piles, several already split open with cutting tools. Three figures moved between them, methodically tearing through containers while a fourth stood watch near the far entrance with a blaster slung lazily across one shoulder. From Tic's scouting, he knew there were more scattered around the outpost.

Ace withdrew behind the wall before they'd had any chance to spot him.

He looked toward Kinley. "Four." His voice was barely above a whisper. "They're focused on the crates."

His hand finally slipped from the hilt of his lightsaber, letting the implication hang that it wouldn't stay that way for long.

Kinley Pryse​

 

[Kinley Pryse]

You've been hit by... you've been struck by...

Kinley Pryse doesn't burn bridges. She sells toll rights.​

Kinley followed Acier as they crept toward the outpost, boots moving quietly over the dusty ground.

Well. Acier crept.

Kinley strolled.

There was something almost impressive about the fact that even on the way toward an almost certain confrontation, she could gamble along as casually as if they were headed to a friendly card game instead of walking straight into trouble. Nothing about her suggested urgency. Nothing suggested nerves. She simply trailed behind him with that easy confidence of someone who had long ago decided that danger was usually more entertaining than frightening.

As they reached the structure, voices drifted from somewhere ahead. Kinley's eyes shifted toward Acier as he leaned around the corner to get a look. A moment later, he drew back.

At least four inside.

Kinley nodded.

That would do.

Acier started forward, but Kinley's hand caught his arm briefly, stopping him. She gave him no explanation. Just the faintest little grin before releasing him and stepping past.

Then she walked around the corner. No sneaking. No careful approach. Kinley Pryse simply strode into the room like she owned the building, the contents of the crates, and probably the people standing around them too.

This was how Kinley preferred doing business.

With an ace up her sleeve.

Literally this time, as it happened.

"Gentlemen."

Four heads whipped toward her.

Blasters cleared holsters almost immediately, every barrel swinging in her direction.

Kinley didn't so much as flinch.

She stood there in her long duster, one hand tucked lazily inside it, chewing on a toothpick like she'd wandered into the wrong cantina and hadn't yet decided whether it was worth leaving.

For several seconds, nobody spoke. Then a tall Weequay narrowed his eyes. Recognition settled over his face. He spat onto the floor.

"Kinley Pryse."

Kinley's grin widened. "The one and only."

"Get lost, Pryse."

"Aww." She clicked the toothpick between her teeth. "Don't be that way. Skeks. You got out of prison easily enough after I left you on Kessel."

The Weequay rolled his eyes and turned back toward the open crate beside him, apparently deciding she wasn't worth the trouble.

"Yea, and it cost me a small fortune! What do you want anyway?"

Kinley rocked back slightly on her heels. "Easy." Her gaze wandered toward the crates. "I'm trying to take what you guys have rightfully stolen."

A short, bald human barked out a laugh. "Even you can't take all four of us, Pryse."

Kinley considered that. Then shrugged. "Have it your way, then." Her hand came out of the duster.

Fast.

A blaster cleared leather, and four weapons immediately snapped toward her. Kinley's didn't point at any of them.

BLAM!!

The shot tore into the ceiling above. For half a heartbeat, everyone stared. Then came the groan of old metal.

Kinley smiled. The abandoned outpost had clearly seen better days, and the rusted stairwell hanging above the opposite doorway finally surrendered to gravity. Metal supports snapped apart, and the entire structure crashed downward with a thunderous roar, slamming across the back entrance and burying it beneath a twisted barricade of durasteel and debris.

Dust exploded through the room. Someone on the other side started shouting. Kinley calmly rolled the toothpick to the other side of her mouth so she could examine her handiwork. That ought to buy them a little time. Now they only had to finish these four before anybody else managed to join the party.

"That was a wonderful trick Pryse, but now you are stuck in here with us."

"I prefer to think of it as you being stuck in here with him."


Acier Moonbound

A Smooth Criminal

 

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Odessen

Equipment:
Vanguard Robes | Lightsaber | Shoto | Cybernetic Arm | Tic

Ace felt Kinley's hand catch his arm before he could move. He stopped, turning his head toward her, eyes following as she released him and stepped past, that little grin on her face doing absolutely nothing to explain what she had in mind. What was she doing?

Then she walked around the corner. Ace remained where he was, pressing himself closer to the wall beside the entrance. From there, he could hear everything while keeping himself comfortably out of sight.

Apparently, Kinley knew these guys. Or one of them, at least. What were the odds? Ace leaned just enough to watch the exchange unfold without exposing himself. Skeks recognized her immediately, and from the sound of things, the two had history. Something involving Kessel, apparently.

As the conversation continued, the corner of Ace's mouth slowly pulled into a half smirk. Of course this was how Kinley was handling things. Then her hand disappeared beneath the duster and Ace's amusement vanished instantly.

His muscles tensed as Kinley's blaster cleared its holster, four weapons immediately rising to meet it. His hand moved toward the lightsaber at his hip, already preparing to intervene.

Except Kinley's shot went into the ceiling. Ace's eyes flicked upward, then he understood, the rusted stairwell collapsed with a deafening crash, sealing the opposite entrance beneath twisted durasteel and throwing dust throughout the room. Whatever reinforcements were waiting beyond it weren't getting through anytime soon.

Then came Kinley's voice through the settling dust and Ace stepped around the corner.

Skeks looked toward him. "Him?"

The Weequay stared for a second before bursting into laughter, apparently finding the sight of Ace considerably less intimidating than Kinley had intended.

"He's just a snot-nosed little kid!"

Tic chirped sharply from beside Ace's boots, and a smirk tugged at Ace's lips as he stared down the four men. His thumb pressed the ignition and blue light spilled across the dusty room and the laughter died.

"Oh, kriff."

Four blasters opened fire and Ace's blade snapped across his body, catching the first bolt and sending it screaming harmlessly into the wall, flowing between the rest of the bolts without giving ground.

Months ago, he might have answered their panic with overwhelming aggression. Closed the distance before they understood what was happening. Broken their formation with the brutal forward pressure he'd learned to rely upon as a Sith Knight.

He couldn't fight like that anymore. Wouldn't. So Ace remained measured. Every movement was defensive, each deflection angled away from Kinley and the smugglers rather than returned into flesh. His lightsaber became a moving wall of blue as the Force whispered each shot to him fractions of a second before fingers ever finished squeezing triggers.

Then Ace saw the opening and his right hand shot forward. The Force hit the four smugglers like a freight speeder. They were ripped from their feet at once, bodies thrown backward across the room.

Ace didn't pursue them. Instead, he glanced toward Kinley. She was the quick draw, so he'd leave the rest to her.

His lightsaber remained humming at his side while his attention stretched outward through the Force, beyond the collapsed stairwell and toward the rest of the outpost. The people outside wouldn't stay confused forever. If the obvious entrance was blocked, they'd find another.

Ace looked back toward Kinley. "Whoever's still here, they're about to try and find another way in." That half-smirk returned as he nodded toward the wreckage she'd brought down. "Nice con."

Kinley Pryse​

 

[Kinley Pryse]

You've been hit by... you've been struck by...

Kinley Pryse lives like a fuse on a moonshine table​

Kinley watched the whole thing unfold with considerably less concern than perhaps she should have. The second Ace stepped around the corner and that blue blade snapped to life, she lowered her blaster a fraction and took one lazy step to the side.

Blasterfire filled the room, brilliant red bolts cutting through the haze she'd kicked up when the stairwell came crashing down. Kinley ducked instinctively as one went wide, but Ace was already moving. Blue light carved through the dust, his saber snapping from one bolt to the next with an efficiency that made the whole thing look almost effortless.

Almost.

Kinley had met enough Jedi, and enough things that claimed to be Jedi, to know better. Still, she had to admit it was impressive.

Then Ace threw out his hand. All four smugglers went sailing, bodies lifted clean off their feet as weapons clattered across the floor.

Kinley's eyebrows climbed. "Well, that's just showing off."

She was moving before any of them hit the ground. Ace might have been rediscovering some sense of honor, restraint, or whatever Jedi-shaped philosophy he was trying on these days, but that wasn't her style. Kinley Pryse had survived the underworld by learning an entirely different set of lessons.

Her hand blurred toward her holster. The blaster cleared leather in one smooth motion, her duster still swirling around her legs when the first shot cracked through the room.

Then another.

And another.

By the time the last smuggler hit the floor, the sharp stink of scorched flesh had mixed with the dust hanging in the air. Kinley hadn't hesitated. Hadn't blinked. Ace had left them alive. Kinley made certain they wouldn't be a problem again.

His voice cut through the sudden quiet.

"Whoever's still here, they're about to try and find another way in." That half-smirk returned as he nodded toward the wreckage she'd brought down. "Nice con."

Kinley glanced over at him and winked.

"I have my moments."

Then she holstered her blaster and headed toward the crates stacked along the far wall. A repulsorlift cart sat waiting beside them, conveniently empty.

Her grin returned.

"Now let's loot the joint and get out of here before somebody decides they want another chat."


Acier Moonbound

A Smooth Criminal