Duel Hunting from the Shadows

[Eira Dyn]

Location: Corellia
Equipment: Lethal Pursuers, vibro-sword, blaster pistol, mask
Outfit: Assassin Attire
Tag: Acier Moonbound

The target was some goodie two shoes political activist on Corellia. Even with the fall of the Galactic Alliance, some of the region had not accepted the fate that the Sith Order were most certainly coming for their worlds and taking control over the galaxy once again. Instead, they attempted meagre displays of resistance and seemed determined in proving that the Sith were enemies that would destroy their worlds. Eira had been tasked with silencing one such voice. It wasn't a contract directly from the Sith Order, but this activist had upset a few groups, one of them had enough to reach out to the bounty hunter guilds and place a bounty on his head.

Dead or alive was the contract.

Eira only dealt with dead when it came to targets like this one. Alive, there was a chance that he would rise up again and stir trouble. Dead, his voice was silenced and his message could be manipulated to turn the masses against him. Easier to deal with a dead martyr than an alive one. That had been Eira's views on the matter. She wore her assassin outfit, still needing to design a proper armoured version, with some tech and even a droid to help in the areas that her skills lacked. But she was still an young apprentice and gathering the materials for such designs were tricky. Eira also needed to find someone to help build the armour since her skills were not in that area at all.

But she was on Corellia, in her assassin outfit, perched over a rooftop as her blood red eyes scanned over the targets. Waiting to see where her target could be. Eira was enjoying this a little more than she would normally since it was a strike at old Galactic Alliance space. It was a mission after hearing of their collapse and Eira couldn't help but soak in the glee that was the demise of the largest that once threatened the Sith into extinction. The time of the light was dying out and darkness was rising. The Jedi were meeting their pitiful conclusion, one that had been long overdue and Eira was just thrilled to be part of the Order when it happened.

Able to continue to tarnish the name so that it would be remembered with disgrace. And not seen as a lost symbol of hope. That couldn't be allowed.

 

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Corellia

Equipment:
Field Gear | Lightsaber | Tic | Cybernetic Arm

The Hidden Path had been quiet since Atrisia. Even without returning to any of their outposts, Ace could feel it in the comm silence. It was the stillness that followed when a network either went underground or simply... stopped existing. Before the defense of Atrisia, encrypted channels had been alive with chatter. Now, those same channels felt like tombs.​

​

He tried not to think about what that meant. Maybe the Network was just recalibrating. Maybe it was fractured. Or maybe it had finally collapsed under the weight of a war too big for anyone to carry.​

​

Still, silence had a way of drawing him back to work. The last transmission he'd received came from one of the few operatives still in contact, someone embedded in the Core. They'd picked up intel about a political agitator stirring up noise on Corellia: Tavian Marr. Marr was calling for planetary unity in the wake of the Alliance's fall, urging worlds not to give in to the Sith or the Imperial remnants clawing for territory.​

​

His message was catching on, which meant it was only a matter of time before he also drew the wrong kind of attention. And that someone had already made their move.​

​

Ace had taken the request as a favor, and now he found himself on Corellia. He moved through the dense grid of its capital city, keeping out of sight, keeping to the shadows. He wasn't here to intervene unless he had to. The goal was simple: make sure the hit didn't happen.​

​

But the Force had other plans. Somewhere, he felt it... a single dark filament drawn tight with intent. Focused. Coiled. Lethal. This wasn't the texture of some hired gun. Bounty hunters had jittery threads: erratic, transactional. This one was smooth. Controlled. Fed by something deep and violent.​

​

This person was trained, young, burning. Whoever had come for Tavian Marr… wasn't ordinary.​

​

Eira Dyn​

 

[Eira Dyn]

Location: Corellia
Equipment: Lethal Pursuers, vibro-sword, blaster pistol, mask
Outfit: Assassin Attire
Tag: Acier Moonbound

As Eira watched her target, observing the movements and the pathway he was making through the crowded street, the presence of someone irked her. It was the presence of someone connected to the Light Side of the Force. Some kind of Jedi likely. Eira growled quietly to herself, this was going to make her mission more difficult but that did not mean it was going to be impossible. Eira just had to adapt and play smarter. Play a few more cards in her hands to ensure the Jedi would make an error.

That started with hiding her presence in the Force. Reducing the presence till there was nothing a person could sense unless they were right beside her. Hiding where she was, the intentions and energy of herself would give the best chances to succeed. It wasn't guaranteed since as soon as she would go to strike, the Force would betray those intentions. But it made things harder to track. It was just one part of her plan, not the only thing that she would be doing. From there, she grabbed one dagger in her dominant hand and held her pistol in the non-dominant hand. This was going to be riskier but Eira held some firm beliefs that a single attack would be defended and defended easily.

While she couldn't predict easily the skills of this Jedi that she sensed. Eira could simply prep in the best ways possible for the worst that it could be. Nothing signalled Jedi Master from what Eira had sensed. But that didn't mean much since hiding the strength one had in the Force was a power that any Force User could gain. So, it was tricky but she believed there was more of an even playing field between the two of them than she had experienced in the past. Having fought against Jedi Masters, Jedi Knights and veteran warriors of many fighting cultures.

But that only provided her with a small relief. The Sith apprentice aimed her pistol towards the direction she had felt the presence of the Jedi, the Light Sided Force User and then fired multiple shots. As the shots fired towards the mysterious goody two shoes; Eira threw, with a boost of energy from the Force, her dagger towards Tavlan Marr. Aiming directly towards the heart. It would be interesting to see if the Jedi would be able to defend multiple attacks, heading in different directions. Or whether they would allow themselves to be hurt to protect the target, or allow the target to die to save their own skin. It was a thought that drew a grin to Eira's lips.

 

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Corellia

Equipment:
Field Gear | Lightsaber | Tic | Cybernetic Arm

The presence he had felt earlier, had receded into nothing. Which only meant one thing, they were aware of him too. Hiding their presence.

Ace didn't panic, he remained calm and composed. Eyes on the target, senses alert. Even if he couldn't feel the assassin directly, the Force would tug the moment danger struck, it always did. Threads pulled hardest right before they snapped.

And then, the pull hit him like two cords jerking in opposite directions. A flare of intent from above - bright, hot, violent. And beneath it, another thread slicing toward Tavian Marr's chest like a wire drawn tight.

Ace didn't have time to be in two places. He only had instinct. He pivoted, lightsaber igniting mid-spin with a hiss, catching the first bolt cleanly. The second he redirected toward the incoming dagger. He wasn't certain it would land. He didn't have time to be.

The redirected bolt struck the knife midair, knocking its trajectory sideways just enough that it buried itself harmlessly into a street kiosk instead of Tavian's chest.

The last shot he batted aside with a tight motion of his wrist, sparks scattering across the street. Silence rippled behind the noise.

And then Ace lifted his gaze. The angle of the shots gave the assassin away. Not her presence, not her signature - her position. Somewhere on the rooftop above him, she'd revealed her perch. He didn't hesitate, reaching for the Force, threads tightening around his arm and the building's edge. His metal hand closed into a fist, and he pulled. Sharp and deliberate, aiming to rip the assassin off her rooftop hide before she could disappear again.

"Hiding's not going to save you." He murmured.

If she wanted the kill, she would have to fall first.

Eira Dyn​

 

[Eira Dyn]

Location: Corellia
Equipment: Lethal Pursuers, vibro-sword, blaster pistol, mask
Outfit: Assassin Attire
Tag: Acier Moonbound

If Eira had been a sniper, weapon set up and trapped in place then she would be more concerned about her location being revealed. But the assassin was already leaving the location she had been when she spotted the Lightsaber and knew that this Jedi was going to attempt to save this activist's life. It was luck that his deflection changed the angle of her dagger but Eira did not mind so much. Her thoughts were shifting to the next steps. It was never about lingering on the failures of the last attack but what were the potentials for the next attack. And the idea formed in her mind where she could move next but that meant that she could not stick to the rooftop.

Instead she leaped off the rooftop, feeling the Force power that Acier used to try and destabilise her position. However, Eira had already moved to the next stage of her attack. Using the Force to lessen her impact on the ground. Moving through the screaming and terrified crowd. The fear, the darkness that surrounded her only felt like it was powering her skills. Energy that she could feed off of to strengthen her abilities. Pulling the dagger back into her hand, she took a civilian at knifepoint, holding the blade to their throat with the pistol pointed at her target.

Not dropping the hunt while there is still a chance.

"Choose Jedi. The activist who will be silenced one way or another. Or this innocent civilian." Eira called out in a mocking tone. She was not aiming to be fair or give this Jedi another chance to stop her. The blade was pressed firmly enough against the throat of the civilian to cause a trickle of blood. Showing that she didn't need much movement to ensure they would die. The trigger was half squeezed and ready to fire at a moment's notice. Eira was aiming to ensure both her weapons were a hair's breath moment away from firing and killing either one.

She was forcing the assumed Jedi to make an impossible choice.

 

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Corellia

Equipment:
Field Gear | Lightsaber | Tic | Cybernetic Arm

The moment she dropped from the rooftop, Ace felt the Force shift again. Her presence didn't reappear in the Force, but the chaos she carved through the crowd rippled like torn fabric. Fear swelled through the street, sharp and metallic, a hundred panicked minds pulling at the weave in different directions. It made the whole pattern unstable.

Ace pressed forward through the crowd, eyes tracking Tavian even as he followed the predator's path. He sensed the danger before he saw it, the jagged pull of a thread drawn tight around a civilian's throat. A blade. A heartbeat away from cutting. Her pistol angled toward Marr. Both threads ready to snap.

He stopped several meters away, planted, breath steady despite the tension screaming through the air. A sharp electronic chirp cut through the noise beside Ace's leg; small and anxious.

Tic had kept low through the chaos, slipping between crates and vendor tables as the crowd broke apart. The little BD-unit finally peeked out from behind Ace's boot, photoreceptor flickering in a rapid pattern that mirrored the tension in the street.

Ace didn't look down, he didn't dare take his eyes off Eira.

"Stay close." He murmured, barely audible.

Tic's chassis gave a tiny twitch of acknowledgment, the kyber-glow in his cracked core pulsing once.

Ace's attention locked back on the assassin. Every thread in the moment vibrated with pressure: the blade at the civilian's throat, the pistol trained on Tavian Marr, Eira's trigger finger coiled tight with intent. One wrong move, one flinch, one panicked breath from any of them, and the street would stain red.

But Ace didn't waver. His lightsaber hummed low, the blue blade held angled down but ready to rise.

"You're holding too much." He said quietly, addressing her without raising his voice. "Two lines. Two threats. You can't anchor them both."

He stepped to the side just enough that it would force her to adjust, a calculated micro-shift meant to draw her focus outward instead of inward.

His lightsaber stayed angled down. His posture remained relaxed. But his senses locked onto the exact points of tension that held her attack together: the grip on the knife, the extension of the blaster arm.

"This isn't control." Ace continued, tone level, almost analytical. "It's overextension."

That was the moment he'd been waiting for. He reached into the Force, not with a shove, not with brute strength, but with precision. A single tug aimed at the exact tension point of her knife wrist. A second, smaller pull at her blaster side elbow.

Tiny, surgical movements. Designed not to overpower her, but to break the geometry she needed to maintain both threats at once.

If the lines broke, if his tactic succeeded - Ace moved. His metal hand shot forward, grabbing the civilian by the collar and yanking them back behind him in one sharp pull. His body turned in the same motion, angling himself between Tavian Marr and the line of fire.

Blue light rose, steady and bright, lightsaber held defensively at his side. He didn't advance. He simply met her gaze across the chaos, posture grounded and deliberate.

Ace's voice was low but carrying, "Now it's just you and me. I'm much more fun, anyway."

Eira Dyn​

 

[Eira Dyn]

Location: Corellia
Equipment: Lethal Pursuers, vibro-sword, blaster pistol, mask
Outfit: Assassin Attire
Tag: Acier Moonbound

Behind the mask was a smile. The Jedi was trying to figure things out. Find the path that allowed him to save both. Since Eira was playing with the greatest folly of the Jedi. They always attempted to save everyone, but that would mean ultimately they would fail. It was an impossibility to save every life and if this one would not make the choice even when forced, then the choice would be made for him. She would break his mind by demonstrating that indecision was a choice. That it would lead to death and that there was nothing he could do. That for all his powers and his training, people would still die by her hand and all he could do was stand there as she placed the blame upon him.

The failure to choose.

She snickered at the suggestion that she was overextending herself. It would only be an overextension if she planned on ensuring that she killed both people in a single go. But Eira was just as happy to end the life of one person. To make sure that his overextension of using his powers to cheat the decision would come to bite him. The assassin remained wordless as she looked straight at the Jedi from behind the mask. Feeling the Force, sensing the ways in which he was trying to manipulate her body. It was cute, but it was going to be futile and Eira knew exactly what she was needing to do in the moment as Acier made his move.

The gun was in her non-dominant right hand, she pulled the trigger but the attack from Acier threw her aim off and the bolt went above Tavian's head. Giving him the chance to flee into the alley. The dominant hand jerked as well, giving Acier the opportunity he wanted which was to grab the civilian hostage out of her reach. It was seemingly the perfect move as both were now out of Eira's reach for now. However, the assassin did not curse, she did not hold the stance of someone who had lost or failed. There was still the confidence. A smugness even.

When Acier would look at the civilian that he supposedly saved from Eira's knife, the throat was cleanly sliced open. The sharp knife having carved in deep. Eira had maintained enough control of her dominant hand to ensure that the strike would end the life before releasing the civilian into Acier's hands. Letting him believe he succeed only to realise he failed.

"Your arrogance cost that man his life. You overextended your actions. You failed to choose and therefore the choice was made for you. That death is on your hands." Eira growled, the voice deep, hateful and mocking all in the same breath. "You Jedi all believe you can save every life, but that is your weakness, your folly. Enjoy basking in the blood of your failure." Eira taunted as she holstered her pistol and unsheathed her second dagger. Fully prepared to fight this Jedi with everything she had now.

 

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Corellia

Equipment:
Field Gear | Lightsaber | Tic | Cybernetic Arm

Ace felt the weight of the body the instant it fell limp in his grip. He didn't need the Force to know. The cut was clean. Too fast, too deep to have been stopped once begun.

For a long breath, Ace didn't move. Didn't speak, nor rise to her taunts. He lowered the man gently to the ground, fingers brushing the street once he'd laid the body flat. He exhaled through his nose, not a tremor, not a break, just acknowledgment.

When he finally stood, his lightsaber hummed low at his side. Marr was gone, which meant it was just him and the assassin now. Good. No distractions, then.

"I'm going to make you pay for what you've done." His voice was calm. It wasn't a threat, but cold, simple truth.

He was angry, but he'd learned his lesson in the past. What giving into anger did to him specifically. Never again. Ace would acknowledge his fury, but not allow it to fuel him or control him.

He took a single step forward, the crowd long scattered, the air around them thick with the aftertaste of fear and smoke. Tic scurried up on to his back, but Ace didn't flinch.

His blade lifted only an inch as he advanced, its hum low, controlled, his posture tight and compact.

The moment he entered striking distance, his lightsaber rose only slightly, enough to tighten his frame, and the first strike came in a compact diagonal line; quick, narrow, leaving no opening on the recovery. His boots slid another half-step closer, angling his position with the sort of precision that collapsed space rather than leaving room.

His lightsaber dropped again in a firm downward path, his weight shifting through his hips into the follow through before he rolled back into guard. A small turn of the shoulder followed, quiet and deliberate, giving him room to press forward once more.

Eira Dyn​

 

[Eira Dyn]

Location: Corellia
Equipment: Lethal Pursuers, vibro-sword, blaster pistol, mask
Outfit: Assassin Attire
Tag: Acier Moonbound

The fears that surrounded them, the anger that boiled from the Jedi. Eira found it all so delicious. It was a demonstration of why the Jedi were always going to fall. It took so little to demonstrate their errors, they falsehoods. Eira held her daggers ready as she observed the man. He was ignoring her words, clearly he was unable to counter them, at least that was Eira's belief on why he had fallen silent. Eira gathered all this chaotic and dark energy in the Force, using it to bolster her own abilities. Prepping the body ready for a fight and ready to move fast. Dangerously fast.

The assassin did not seem concerned that she was fighting someone with a Lightsaber, without one of her own.

"Such small minded thinking there. I told you, that death was your fault. I gave you options and you decided to sacrifice that man." Eira pointed out once again with a sharp tone to her voice. One that was daring this Jedi to challenge her thoughts, the way in which she acted. Eira was here to kill her target but the chance to ruin a Jedi's day. That was something that she would never surrender the opportunity for. Eira twirled the daggers in her hands. "If you had made the decision to save his life, then he might have been able to go home to his family. But never forget, you took that away from him, from them and showed everyone just how weak the Jedi are."

As soon as the Jedi closed the distance, Eira moved to match the speed. Using her daggers, she parried and blocked the strikes as they attempted to slash at Eira. The young Sith smirked behind her mask as she aimed to slice down the length of the Lightsaber and cut the hand off of the Jedi. The blades began to attune deeper with Eira as she used their ability to use inflict a Mind Shard into Acier. Eira was eager to be close and intimate with the man, her daggers were designed to be even more lethal up close and in her opponent's face. Eira was feeling the electrical charge of her daggers and herself. Growing the desires to launch powerful Force Lightnings that she hadn't been able to use in quite some time.

"Tell me your name, Jedi. So your Order will know who I killed when I return your ashes once I am finished with you." Eira mocked from behind her mask. There was a purpose as she wanted to trigger the Jedi more. Make him angrier, seeing red. Encouraging the errors in his attacks that will allow her to slice him and kill him. Also, Eira just simply enjoyed to tease and torment her food.

 

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Corellia

Equipment:
Field Gear | Lightsaber | Tic | Cybernetic Arm

She loved to talk. Seemed to be a common trait amongst the Sith. Apparently, they enjoyed the sound of their own voice. Much to Ace's dismay. Did she seriously think he was stupid enough, fragile enough to blame himself for what had happened?

The assassin had orchestrated the situation, Ace had attempted to save both. He failed. Not because it was his fault, but because it was borderline impossible to succeed. Before Atrisia, he'd have fallen into a frenzy over this, but he was different now. Wiser.

His focus never left her hands. The moment she matched his speed, the moment her daggers flashed up to intercept his blade, Ace shifted into tighter motion. His lightsaber twisted, meeting each parry with sharp, economical pressure that kept her arms working and her footing busy.

Her strike came low, blade dragging down the edge of his blade, angling for his hand. Ace's prosthetic snapped back a half-inch, grip tightening around the hilt. The metallic fingers held firm. Sparks flared where metal met the vibrating hum of her weapon, but his stance stayed solid.

Then the hit came. A spike of something sharp pressed at the edge of his thoughts - a Mind Shard slipping through the contact. His jaw clenched. His breath caught for a heartbeat as the blow scraped across the inside of his skull.

Zaiya Ceti 's voice flashed through him like muscle memory. His mind braced around it the way she'd taught him months ago: a quick, deliberate snap of mental discipline that caught the intrusion before it could find purchase.

He stepped in again, closing the space once more. His lightsaber pressed her guard high, tight, uncomfortable. It was the kind of pressure that absolutely suffocated long-term.

During it all, she still found the time to talk. To monologue. She demanded his name.

Ace's answer came flat, steady, and immediate: "You talk too much."

Then a short pivot brought him over her lead side, his shoulder rolling forward as he stepped into her space with another tight diagonal strike.

The talking? Trying to get into his head? Ace had seen it before, and he paid the price for rising to the bait. He'd let fury dictate the fight, and it had cost him an arm on the Death Star III. Never again.

Eira Dyn​

 

[Eira Dyn]

Location: Corellia
Equipment: Lethal Pursuers, vibro-sword, blaster pistol, mask
Outfit: Assassin Attire
Tag: Acier Moonbound

She could sense the Mind Shard attack fail to latch on in the mind of Acier. It was a good attempt on her part, attacks on multiple fronts were always going to cause room for openings but she was needing to push harder in her attacks. Become stronger in how aggressive she moved and how tactical her strikes had to become. The words she had selected were methodical, short and framed in a manner to linger in the mind. It didn't matter how smart a person was, in fact the smarter someone was, the more guilt and doubt they held over their actions. Only a stupid person would think that everything they did was without consequence or was executed perfectly. Eira was just sowing seeds of doubt that would eventually sprout in this Jedi's mind. A long con of corruption and destruction of his self-confidence.

It was amusing when he told her that she talked too much. The boy had clearly never fought a Sith that actually monologued. Someone like Carnifex would monologue for minutes and be capable of attacking while doing so. Many Sith loved to talk from her experiences but Eira was puzzled why he assumed that her short sentences were too much. Was his patience really that thin? If this was a Jedi of limited patience and self-restraint then he was primed to fall down the Dark Side rabbit hole. Eira just needed to figure out what would be the simple push that sent him over the edge.

He also closed the space between them, making things even tighter. Which was perfect for Eira. She was fighting with short daggers, the perfect tools for close quarters fighting. If anything she wanted to get as close and as intimate in the fight as possible. It gave her more areas of Acier's body to strike. The tactic was also allowing her to demonstrate a fatal flaw with the Lightsaber. It was too long for him to sustain attacks or fight the space to strike. Eira was primed for claustrophobic attacks and her daggers sliced towards the wrists, forearm tendons and armpits. Points of a human's body that if cut would weaken or even prevent the arm from being able to function without medical intervention.

Eira was going to debilitate and slow the man down. Show him that his impatience and lack of combat awareness were his weaknesses in this fight. Acier was making this fight easier for Eira, not challenging her. It was causing Eira to grin under the mask.

The Jedi truly were fools.

 

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Corellia

Equipment:
Field Gear | Lightsaber | Tic | Cybernetic Arm

She was fast up close, faster than he'd expected. The tendon-cuts, the armpit strikes, the angled slices for joints and nerves - she wasn't improvising. She'd trained for this range. Her daggers lived here. Thrived here.

Her blade skimmed the seam of his sleeve. Another slid for the tendon above his wrist, he twisted out of it by inches. A third came tight into his armpit, a surgical angle meant to deaden his entire arm; he rolled his shoulder back, barely avoiding the strike.

She didn't want space. She wanted him trapped in her world. That was his mistake, and he shifted gears instantly.

Ace stepped back. A clean slide, widening the gap by just enough to breathe. His lightsaber rose, guarding a mid-line instead of crushing in. His stance opened. His movement loosened. He let the range stretch just beyond her comfort zone, not retreating, but making her chase.

His free hand flicked outward. The Force snapped into the environment around them, catching on a loose fragment of durasteel from a vendor stall she'd carved through earlier. The plate trembled once, then shot toward her like a thrown shield, spinning flat and fast.

Not to finish her, just to disrupt - force her to reposition.

Regardless of how she reacted, Ace followed the opening he created and struck again with several hammering strikes. Mid-range now belonged to him.

Eira Dyn​