Private In the Shadows of Abregado-Rae

[Aveline Cuiléin]

​

Aveline felt the lush grass beneath her boots as she trudged through the vibrant wilderness of Abregado-Rae. The wind whispered through the branches of the surrounding trees, and the air was thick with the fragrance of alien blossoms.

While Aveline delved deeper into the heart of the planet's untamed beauty, her Master, Ammon Rane, had taken another path. They were chasing down an assassin, a shadow that disrupted a delicate diplomatic mission in a neighbouring system. Now, on Abregado-Rae, the trail split, and Aveline felt a mix of determination and uncertainty. While he pursued their lead and contacts in the capital, Aveline set out on another errand, out into the wild.

Her task didn't even have anything to do with the original reason they were here, simply something that had come up and couldn't be ignored. A minor investigation into what most likely would be a dead end. Rumours of dark artefacts and black market traders holed out away from the prying eyes of the authorities. So far, the only signs of life she had found were the distant hum of exotic creatures resonating in the air.

As Aveline ventured further, the landscape transformed. The vibrant beauty of nature gave way to structures worn by time and abandonment. Crumbling buildings stood as echoes of a once-thriving settlement. The air was thick with the scent of decaying structures, a stark contrast to the vibrant nature she had traversed earlier. Nature was slowly starting to creep up again and reclaim it, though it clearly hadn't been given enough time to envelop it completely. Still, it was enough to remind Aveline that life persisted, adapting to change and finding strength in resilience.

As she walked deeper into the heart of the deserted settlement, a sense of foreboding settled over her. The buildings, long forgotten by the bustling world, stood like silent witnesses to some forgotten tragedy. Aveline's instincts, finely tuned through Jedi training, urged her to remain vigilant.

As she continued down the path, Aveline couldn't shake the feeling that the answers she sought lay hidden in the quiet solitude of this forsaken place. The mystery deepened, and with each step, she steeled herself for the challenges that awaited in the shadows of Abregado-Rae.

Darth Malum of House Marr​

 

[Darth Malum of House Marr]

It had been pure opportunism that had dragged him out to Abregado-Rae, a one-sided alliance of circumstance, as the Mandalorian hammered down the exterior walls of the Galactic Alliance in the Inner Rim, he had used the fact that the Tsis'Kaar were already deep within their walls. The next line to breach was the Colonies, and though he was uncertain if the Mandalorians had even decided to advance onwards to the Core, he had decided, to likely the controversy of the rest of the Sith, that the enemy of his enemy, was his friend, despite likely the Sith and Mandalorians considering themselves as much enemies to each other, than their mutual enemy of the Alliance.

Still, he had brought himself to the colonies, and he had decided to have some fun.

The Alliance had seemingly been contacting worlds in the region, likely for good reason, with these worlds and the Rimma Trade Route that ran through being key to reinforcing the fronts. Thus he unleashed himself, interrupting as many of these meetings as he could through his favoured techniques, subterfuge, sabotage, and his speciality, assassination. It likely would not accomplish much on its own or in the long term, acting against singular planets, and low-level bureaucrats, but such was not truly his purpose.

It was to have these planets, always so concerned with their own territorial defence, call for the aid of the greater alliance, demanding that the Alliance move forces to defend them, and it seemed he had succeeded. It was while conducting operations on Abregado-Rae that he heard the news from the Tsis'Kaar network, Jedi had been dispatched to deal with the string of assassinations at diplomatic conferences in this sector.

Jedi that would not be fighting at the front, Jedi that could be picked off one by one.

Perfect.

So he had prepared on Abregado-Rae, luring them here, as he spread out misinformation of where exactly he was.

And now, sitting cloaked, and hidden from the Force, atop a ruined building, he watched his prey walk through the ruined settlement. An attractive young woman, with dark hair, pale skin, and blue eyes.

They had sent the padawan to the wrong location.

They had sent the padawan to him.

He likely should have felt insulted, instead, he felt some remorse. This would be a future Jedi knight, who would no doubt be against his kind, already was.

Yet it would be a pity to have to snuff her life out so soon.

It was as she walked in perpendicular that he struck, standing up, his ring shining bright as it was hot to the touch, if she gazed up to the sky, she would see a great firestorm burst out, filling the heavens with flame as orange quickly burned into hottest blue, within seconds covering her position.

It would not be a kind death, but it would be a quick one.

Or so he hoped.

Aveline Cuiléin

 

[Aveline Cuiléin]

What secrets lay here? If she listened closely, would she uncover the echoes of lives long gone? The air was heavy with the weight of unspoken history, and Aveline continued her investigation with the grace of a dancer traversing the stage of forgotten memories.

Aveline approached a weathered building, its once vibrant facade now worn and battered by the relentless passage of time. The surface, textured with the scars of neglect, bore the faded remnants of what might have been intricate murals or symbols. She couldn't help but... In an instant and without warning, she pivoted on her heel while igniting the brilliant blue blade in a swift, fluid motion. The vibrant hum of the lightsaber filled the air, cutting through the silence of the abandoned settlement.

An unseen ripple in the Force had sent shivers down her spine. She had sensed… No one. Yet something was very wrong, murderous intent whispered by the wind. No assailant awaited her. There was no answer to the mystery, and there was no time to admire the flames.

The young Jedi threw herself into one of the buildings, guided by her instincts as well as the Force. A door fell off his hinges as the girl on fire tumbled inside. If questioned she wouldn't have been able to tell whether it was rust or use of the Force that had brought it down.

Immediately her once dusty, now toasty, brown robes were discarded and thrown back out. "Feth feth kark!" Aveline tapped her at body furiously, fearing flames that were thankfully not there. Quickly she reached for the comm unit to let Rane know of her situation, only her hand came up empty. Without needing to see it, she realized she'd lost it as she leapt into the building. By now it would be burnt to a crisp, because of course it was.

"Motherfethin' kath hound"

There was no time to linger, and there was no reason to think this attack would be the last. She considerd for a moment dampening her presence within the Force to make whoever threw the sun at her think she'd perished, but it was a little late for that now.

"I don't know who you are, but you are a very rude person!" she shouted out into the hopefully dying down flames. That'd tell them! Maybe they'd go home, and rethink their life…

Meanwhile, Aveline began searching for a back door, or any other such means of escape. Time was of the essence as a sudden burst of flames didn't exactly seem to scream patience.


Darth Malum of House Marr

 

[Darth Malum of House Marr]

He blinked.

Then he blinked again.

Of course, there was something in the back of his mind that had expected the padawan to somehow escape his strike, surprisingly it was not the fragment which usually would toy and annoy him at moments like this.

Still, the padawan surviving was not necessarily the strangest thing that happened at the moment. No, that was reserved for the fact that the padawan had the gall to scream obscenities while she survived, and then the acrimony to call him... rude.

Rude for attempting to kill her.

It was somehow the most emasculating response to an assassination attempt that he had ever faced.

"Well considering the mercy you allowed to be shown, such should not be surprising."

Malum winced at the lecture, though more at the feeling of a dagger that sliced through his brain, as he lept from his elevated position, down towards the road at which he had last seen the Jedi. No charred corpse, that was to be expected, after all, corpses did not generally call someone rude, they were far too dead to do that. What he did notice was a comm unit, electricity zipping through it, burnt to a crisp. Malum stepped on it, a satisfying crunch as the electronics were cracked under his boot.

So the padawan would have no assistance coming for her, ideal.

Gazing ahead toward the building in front of him, he quickly noticed it had far more than the scorch marks indicative of the damage he caused, the smoke and flames that were born of his hand. There was kinetic damage, a broken door hinge as if someone in a hurry had smashed themselves inside.

He had found his Jedi then.

Malum smirked, bowing his head, as he felt his ring warm up, shining as brilliantly as his own glimmering orbs. He did not know where exactly she was, but he knew she would hear him.

"My apologies, my lady, though your mouth tells me you cannot be called that. I am Darth Malum, of House Marr," He willed the Force around his fingers, transforming the energy into exactly what he needed it to be, the flames flickered and sparked, and closing his eyes for a moment...

...He opened them to thunder, as once again flames erupted out of his hands in a massive explosion, orange quickly turning blue, as the force blasted through the house. Flames caught, flickering towards every piece of wood and flammable material it could, as smoke rose. She either was caught in the explosion and was dead, or she was caught in a building on fire and would collapse in on itself.

"And, I am your executioner."

Aveline Cuiléin

 

[Aveline Cuiléin]

​

Aveline's day went from bad to worse upon hearing his introduction. Darth Marr. There was that wretched title that all but guaranteed that she was dealing with a Sith Lord. Abregado-Rae was a lovely planet, though the young Padawan knew well not to expect fond memories of her stay. She'd be fond to maintain the capacity for memories at all.

"Sithspit" she hissed under her breath. Silence would've been adviced, but so would not spending one on one time with a Sith, so she was kind of on a descending spiral as it was.

Aveline hadn't found a clever back door. If there were windows she were on the wrong side of the building. Under any other circumstance she might've considered a hiding place. The only thing she would achieve by hiding, however, would be a race between dying from the flames or choking on the smoke. Then there was that other matter, that one very important detail she must not allow momentary panic to suppress. She was a Jedi. She might not be a Knight, but she was a Jedi. This was what she had signed up for.

Trust in the Force.

She knew she had it in her to make it. If there wasn't a way she would make one. And on the tail end of that thought, she immediately took her own advice, a bit more literal than it had been intended.

The blue lightsaber dove into the wall and began slowly tracing a circle. The building shook, and she heard a boom from the floor below and opposite end to her. It was a good thing she was not stood right above whatever that was. Yet she felt the heat rising, and the flames were racing. In a move like stolen out of a Holonet movie, Aveline leapt out, taking the carved piece of the wall with her, just as a beam of flames shot out after her.

Aided by the Force, Aveline tumbled to her landing without dramatic concequence.

The lone Jedi rose from her crouched position, outside once more, staring at the entrance to the building she had first sought refuge in. There was nowhere left to run, nowhere left to hide. Their initial dance of cat and mouse, it appeared, had come to and end.

The situation was most dire, but she simply couldn't help herself. "What got you so fired up?"

No doubt, Darth Malum of House Marr would emerge before her. Her hopes for them to resolve this in a civilized manner were naught.

What remained was just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him not to burn her into a crispy chicken

Darth Malum of House Marr​

 

[Darth Malum of House Marr]

Any satisfaction that he may have received from the kill was tempered by the fact it had to be made at all. It was disappointing really, there was even a spark of shame, guilt, remorse. Had it been any other time, had she been younger... his first port of call would have never have been to strike first, it would have been to convince her to leave this path, the Jedi that would fail her.

The Jedi that had failed the galaxy.

Those of their breed, those who were not simply touched by the Force, but too could use it.

They were special, and though the Jedi would have them all enslaved to Fate and Destiny.

The Sith, him... he would have her set free.

Her chains broken.

Of course, in reality, he lacked any satisfaction in the kill, for a very simple fact.

He had not in fact actually achieved the kill.

He found himself blinking rapidly again, as her voice broke through the burning husk of the long-abandoned home. Any other time, he would have felt some regret, in destroying what no doubt would have been an interesting site for any local historians and archaeologists... well no in fact the regret was still there, alas, the structure had gotten in the way.

Or more accurately, the Jedi had put the structure in his way.

Her voice betrayed her, though her words at least would imply her lack of fear, the aloofness and arrogance of the Jedi that always was able to get on his nerves. Within the words themselves, there was just the barest hint of the truth.

Fear.

He let out a sigh, she had survived two strikes, should he try a third?

Or would he try to soothe his guilty conscious?

What was the harm in trying?

And after all, she had survived two attacks from a Sith Lord, that spoke to some capability, and she was a padawan... perhaps an older one, a rather attractive one from what little he spied, but one that likely the Jedi had not quite sunk their dogma into yet.

Perhaps she could be saved.

"My apologies, perhaps I... overreacted," Malum began, not entirely sure what to say, gazing into the smokey hovel, where either she was still in, or she had made it out just in time, he imagined the latter, "It is no excuse, but suffice it to say... our respective Orders are not the most kind to one another... but perhaps we might be the exceptions?" It was a genuine offer, as strange as that concept might be to a Jedi.

If a Jedi offered that to him, would he accept?

He was not entirely sure.

Aveline Cuiléin