Private Quiet Channels

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Yavin 4

Equipment:
Acolyte Robes| Lightsaber | Cybernetic Arm

Mist clung low between the roots of Yavin's ancient trees, curling around fallen stone and the broken steps of one of the old temples. Vines crept over carved reliefs like they were reclaiming a debt long overdue. The air was thick with humidity and the low chorus of unseen life.​

​

Ace stood at the edge of the clearing, just outside the temple's shadow. He hadn't gone inside. Teth had made him wary of areas like this. Too much history pressed inward. Too many ghosts that didn't care who you were now, only what you might become.​

​

He rested his weight back onto his heels, arms folded loosely across his chest, posture casual. But his body had other ideas, a dull ache flared along his right side as he shifted. The beanbag round Arris had put into him at point blank range had faded from angry purple to a sickly yellow, but the impact still lived under his ribs. Every breath tugged at it just a little. He exhaled through his nose and ignored it. Pain was inconvenient, not informative.​

​

Yavin was forgotten enough to stay off most scanners, old enough that Force-sensitive conversations didn't echo quite so loudly into places they shouldn't. If you were going to say things that could get people killed, or start wars, you did it somewhere like this.​

​

Ace's gaze drifted to the treeline, then back to the temple. He could feel the Force here in that quiet, layered way he'd come to associate with old battlegrounds and abandoned ruins. Not loud or demanding. Just… present.​

​

He'd sent the messages to Sibylla and Lorn seperately. What he'd learned inside the Covenant had shifted the ground under his feet, and there was much to discuss. The information and how to go forward.​

​

Ace rolled his shoulder once and settled again. The waiting stretched on, and he didn't fill it. No restless pacing, no reaching outward through the Force to pass the time. Just maintained stillness. Whatever reaction should've come with standing here; anticipation, unease, doubt? Never quite arrived. Ace remained where he was, composed and unmoving, aware of an absence without feeling compelled to name it.​

​

Sibylla Abrantes | Lorn Reingard​

 

[Sibylla Abrantes]

​

Jedi Temple
YAVIN IV

The shuttle cut through Yavin's dense cloud cover with a low, steady hum, its hull briefly swallowed by mist before the jungle opened beneath her. Sibylla's hands moved over the controls, guiding the descent carefully. Even so, she caught herself biting her lower lip, gnawing at the flesh as she felt that tension that had been growing since Eshan threaded through her focus and settled in the furrow of her brow.

Concern did that. Worry did that.

She remembered what she had felt from Ace on Eshan. Not the crushing pressure and gravity that had radiated from the Sith Empress, no. But the disquite there. And perhaps maybe it had been the circumstance. Perhaps it had been because they had agreed to talk in code. But SIbylla couldn't help the way it stilll unsettled her. Adelle had sensed it too, and had confirmed that there was more beneath the surface than Ace ever showed outright.

And Sibylla trusted that. But more than that, she trusted her own instincts just as much.

If there was more there, then she needed to see it for herself. To speak with Ace and look him in the eyes and see what lived behind them now.

She had sworn to herself she wouldn't hesitate any more and meet things fully. Which is why she was here.

Minutes later, the shuttle settled into a small clearing with a low thrum, the landing struts slipping out to sink slightly into damp earth. Sibylla powered down the engines and sat there for a breath longer than necessary, letting the jungle's soundscape flood in around her. The air was thick, heavy with humidity and the scent of green life reclaiming old scars. Mist clung low between the massive roots of ancient trees, curling around fallen stone and broken steps that led toward the remains of a temple long abandoned as vines crawled over carved reliefs.

Such a strange world this was. Nothing like Naboo. Nothing like Roon.

With another breath, Sibylla rose, using her hands to straighten her jacket, and then she moved to step down the ramp.

It didn't take long to find him.

Ace stood just beyond the edge of the clearing, just outside the temple's shadow. He hadn't gone inside. That alone told her something. At first glance, his posture was loose, with his arms folded and his weight balanced on his heels. Casual, if one didn't know how to look closer.

But Sibylla did.

She caught the subtle shift of his stance, the careful way he held himself. Her steps slowed as she approached, hazel eyes studying him with quiet intent.

Sibylla stopped a few paces away, the mist curling briefly around her boots before dispersing. For a moment, she said nothing, letting the silence exist as the place settled around them.

Then her voice quietly cut the din.

"You chose a quiet place."

Those ever observant hazel eyes lifted to meet his as she drew closer, searching, picking up what she could.

"I got your message."

Lorn Reingard Acier Moonbound​

 

[Lorn Reingard]

Tags: Acier Moonbound | Sibylla Abrantes​

Lorn's ship settled into the clearing with a muted whine of repulsors, leaves and mist scattering outward before sinking back into place. He cut the engines and sat for a moment, hands resting on the console, listening to the jungle breathe. Encrypted summons from Ace did not come lightly. He'd told himself this was simple. Check on the kid. Make sure he wasn't bleeding or spiraling. Maybe wander the ruins after for a few days. Isla was grown now. Ala ran the Order with a steadier hand than most Councils he'd known. Lorn had time. Too much of it, if he was honest.

He started down the ramp toward the temple and stopped.

Ace was already there. Halfway up the overlook, standing like he belonged to the stone. And around him, settling into the clearing, another ship touched down.

Lorn squinted. Then groaned.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me."

He set off up the incline, boots slipping on damp dirt, breath already protesting. The hill was steeper than it looked. Vines snagged at his trousers. His knee reminded him he was closer to his forties than his twenties. He pushed on anyway, because that was what he did.

Halfway up, he saw them clearly. Ace and Sibylla, standing close. Too close for coincidence. Lorn felt the familiar weight settle in his chest. Of course. The Queen. Young, brilliant, and beautfiul. He wheezed out a breath that might have been a laugh. So that was why he chose to involve her.

He reached the top at last, hands braced on his thighs, lungs burning. He straightened with effort and looked between them, eyes sharp despite the exhaustion. The Force hummed faintly here, old and watchful, like it knew this meeting mattered.

"No," Lorn said between breaths. "This is a great place to meet." He gestured vaguely at the ruins, then the climb behind him. "Not at the temple." He sucked in another breath. "Definitely not at the bottom of the hill."

He glanced at Ace, then Sibylla, something weary and fond crossing his face.

"Damn kids."

 

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Yavin 4

Equipment:
Acolyte Robes| Lightsaber | Cybernetic Arm

Ace didn't move immediately when Sibylla spoke. Her voice cut cleanly through the jungle noise, and his gaze lifted to meet hers without hurry. For a moment, he simply studied her but not in the way he once might have, searching for reassurance or familiarity, but with a quiet appraisal. As if cataloguing her.

His attention briefly shifted as the second ship settled into the clearing. He could sense it was Lorn. Good, it meant they could get to business sooner. Ace's dark eyes settled on Bylla again, as he answered her.

"Quiet's the point." He replied, evenly.

He didn't turn at the groan. The cadence of it alone told him who it was. When Lorn finally crested the incline, Ace waited, patient, expression unreadable as the older man caught his breath and delivered his commentary.

At the last line, 'damn kids', something like the ghost of a reaction flickered at the corner of Ace's mouth. But it didn't quite qualify as a smile.

"Glad you're both here." He said instead.

He unfolded his arms and shifted his weight, careful not to favor his side too obviously, though the movement pulled at the bruise beneath his ribs all the same. His jaw tensed and eye twitched ever so slightly, he ignored it.

Ace's eyes returned to Sibylla. "I have information. Not leads, but... it's something."

Then he looked to Lorn.

"I've told Sibylla already, but it's better you both know." He went on. "There's a traitor in the Republic. I don't know who, except it's a noble."

He let his words settle for a moment, allowing Lorn to absorb what had just been said. As he did, the Force hummed faintly through the area, old and indifferent.

"Arris Windrun." Ace said, eyes still on Lorn, a reminder of what they had discussed on Desevro. "I heard her say it, about the traitor. And Mercy Star-Arm?"

He glanced aside briefly, as if orienting himself to a memory rather than the ruins around them.

"The attacks in Tapani? It's scaffolding. She called it a 'building block'."

His gaze returned to Sibylla, steady and unblinking.

"Star-Arm wants the Core Worlds. A real war."

Sibylla Abrantes | Lorn Reingard ​

 

[Sibylla Abrantes]

​

Sibylla did not interrupt Ace.

No she watched him.

The longer she observed Ace, the clearer the difference became. He stood steady, composed, every line of his posture controlled. But there was something else threaded through that stillness, something absent rather than present. A detachment that sat too cleanly in his gaze, as if parts of him had been set aside for efficiency's sake.

That did not bode well.

She was just drawing breath to comment when the sound broke through the jungle -- a groan, followed by a sharp intake of breath and the muttered curse of damn kids.

Instinct took over for a heartbeat and Sibylla's hand moved to the holster at her hip, fingers brushing the grip of her blaster. But Ace did not react in alarm, and that alone told her enough to ease her grip and let her shoulders settle.

Nonethe less, her frown remained.

She watched the man crest the incline, clearly having argued with gravity on the way up, and turned a questioning look toward Ace. When he spoke, when he said he was glad they were both here, understanding clicked into place.

Ace had invited the stranger as well.

Sibylla arched a brow, first at Ace, then at the newcomer, holding the silence long enough to make the expectation clear.

As Ace began to speak again, her attention sharpened. Information, not leads. Her jaw tightened almost imperceptibly as he continued, each revelation stacking neatly atop the last. That there was traitor in the Republic and that the Covenant had torn through the Tapani Sector leaving it in ruins.

Which begged the question, the part that went selfishly to Ace instead of the whole. How had he had been affected by this?

Sibylla's expression only grew grimer when he uttered the words that left an echo in her ears.

A real war.

The Covenant wanted the Core Worlds.

Sibylla drew in a slow, steady breath through her nose, lips pressing together as she absorbed the weight of it. This was no longer conjecture or distant threat. It was undoubtly intentional momentum towards the Core.

And now there were confirmed individuals, potentially Houses, involved in it. Could this be perhaps Mauve motions? They had recently provided her with the newest title of Lady Tapalo in exchange for her providing them with information. No that didn't make sense.

Something to look into.

She let the silence linger for half a beat longer, then straightened slightly, diplomat and woman reasserting themselves in equal measure.

"Before we go any further," she said calmly, her voice even despite the concern that now clearly shadowed her expression, "we should begin properly."

Hazel eyes shifted to the man, still catching his breath, appraising him with quiet scrutiny, for Sibylla Abrantes had not met Lorn Reingard before. Or heard of him.

No matter how many Jedi Knights ogled his walk from behind.

"Who are you?" she asked plainly, her Naboo accent giving way to genuine perplexity before she spoke aloud regarding the matter any further. That Acier invited him here meant that he trusted him, but she didn't know him.

Then, briefly, her eyes returned to Ace. There was no accusation in the look she gave him, but there was worry.

Something was off.

And whatever this was, it was already far deeper than she liked.

Acier Moonbound​

 

[Lorn Reingard]

Tags: Acier Moonbound | Sibylla Abrantes​

By the time he reached them, he was hunched forward, hands on his thighs, drawing in air like it had personally wronged him. Sweat dampened his collar. He straightened slowly, hands shifting to his hips, chest rising and falling as he listened.

Ace spoke. Lorn focused, even as his lungs burned. A traitor. A noble. The Sith laying groundwork for war. He nodded once, jaw tightening. Of course it was a noble. It was always a noble. Half the Senate was raised on entitlement and secrecy. Could be any one of them. He flicked a glance at the Queen standing nearby and kept the thought to himself. Mostly.

Then her attention turned on him.

"Who are you?"

Lorn blinked at her, caught off guard more by the directness than the question. He straightened fully now, breath finally under control, and studied her in return. The look she gave him was familiar. The same one Isla used when he tracked mud into the house or dared to exist too loudly.

He gave it right back.

"Who are you?" he barked back.

He knew exactly who she was. Everyone did. Titles, bloodlines, polished composure. He just wanted to see if she'd wobble. Without waiting for an answer, he turned back to Ace. Priorities.

"This is good," Lorn said, voice steady now. "Bad, but useful." He rubbed a hand over the back of his neck, thinking. War in the Core meant attention. Pressure. Fear. The Empire would respond in kind. Two predators circling each other rarely noticed the knife slipping between their ribs.

"If the Sith focus on the Core, the Empire will retaliate," he continued. "They'll be too busy posturing and bleeding to watch their own shadows." His eyes narrowed slightly. "Gives the Order and the Republic time. Time to sniff out the traitor. Time to destabilize both sides while they're distracted."

He looked at Ace then, really looked at him. The kid was standing too still. Holding something back.

"We can work with this," Lorn said quietly. "If we're careful."

 

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Yavin 4

Equipment:
Acolyte Robes| Lightsaber | Cybernetic Arm

Ace's brow lifted a fraction at Sibylla's question. The directness of it. He'd assumed, based on the way Lorn spoke of her on Desevro, that introductions were a formality already handled somewhere he hadn't been present for. Apparently not. His gaze flicked between them once, measuring the space that had just opened.​

​

Then Lorn snapped back. Ace's eyes narrowed slightly at the bite behind it. That earned him a second look, not sharp, not confrontational, just a recalibration. He hadn't expected that. But he didn't comment.​

​

His posture shifted, weight settling evenly as his attention split between them, filing the tension away for later. This wasn't the moment to referee. It was the moment to listen.​

​

So he did. Lorn's assessment wasn't wrong. Ace knew that. Letting the Covenant and the Empire circle each other, bleed each other, distract each othe. It made sense on paper. It saved Republic and Jedi lives. It bought time. It turned two threats inward. And still...​

​

Ace's jaw tightened almost imperceptibly. Tapani flashed in his mind. The senseless brutality. The Covenant treating civilian deaths like acceptable punctuation. Like proof of commitment. He pushed the memory back down where it belonged.​

​

When Ace spoke again, his voice was even. Detached. The same measured cadence he'd used since the meeting began.​

​

"I hear what you're saying, Lorn." He said quietly. "Letting them tear at each other buys time. But... Tapani. Calipsa..." Ace said flatly. "They picked a House, broke it publicly, let panic do the rest, herded refugees and wealth into one place, then closed the lanes and stripped it clean. That wasn't warfighting."​

​

His gaze stayed forward, not accusatory, not pleading.​

​

"They're not above massacres." He said simply. "They're not restrained by optics."​

​

He didn't raise his voice. Didn't let anything bleed through his expression. The concern sat beneath the surface, contained, compressed into clarity rather than outrage.​

​

"If this moves to the Core." Ace concluded, "It'll look like Tapani scaled up. And a lot of people who never chose to be part of this will pay for it first. I can't pretend that doesn't matter."​

​

Ace stayed where he was, composed, eyes steady as he looked between Sibylla and Lorn again. He wasn't asking them to agree, but he made sure the cost was understood before anyone decided how comfortable they were letting monsters run free.​

​

Sibylla Abrantes | Lorn Reingard​

 

[Sibylla Abrantes]

Acier Moonbound Lorn Reingard ​

Honestly, hearing the man Ace had called Lorn snap back with a blunt who are you made Sibylla bristle. It was a rarity for her, and the reaction showed in the brief double take she could not quite suppress, her lips giving an almost comical purse of her lips as she gave a huff. She glanced toward Ace with open incredulity before turning her attention back to Lorn, posture stiffening as her patience thinned.

But before she could interject, Ace pressed on with the briefing, and Sibylla's focus shifted sharply to the reason they were truly here. With each detail he revealed, she felt the blood drain from her face, the implications settling like cold weight in her chest.

This was an escalation with savagery.

If they were willing to massacre innocents, to treat entire systems as scaffolding for something larger, then the danger was not theoretical. Not anymore.

Especially not in the Core, where so many worlds were still unsteady in the aftermath of the Alliance's collapse.

In the back of her mind, Sibylla couldn't help the thought of what escalation wrought. Had Ace seen Aether's broadcast? And if so.... how was he?

A question to ask him later, when they were alone. For now, the focus was on what he had discovered.

"I have to tell Aurelian," Sibylla said, her voice edged with mounting alarm. "This needs to be relayed to the High Chancellor immediately so we can begin tracking movements and reinforce the border with Republic forces."

The young woman's jaw ticked as her thoughts raced ahead, mapping consequences, responses, failures she could not afford to let happen, but it was only then that she brought her attention back to Ace.

Really looked at him.

Her expression tightened, eyes narrowing not in suspicion, but in concern, as one who had seen and watched and observed Ace so many times before. What unsettled her was not only what he had said, but how he had said it. The detachment. The distance.

That wasn't the Ace she knew. She felt it. Right in her bones.

"What happened on Tapani and Calipsa, Ace," she asked quietly.

He would know she was not asking for another report.

She was asking what it had cost him.

 

[Lorn Reingard]

Tags: Acier Moonbound | Sibylla Abrantes​

Lorn listened. Really listened.

Tapani. Calipsa. Names that already carried weight in the Order's quiet briefings, but hearing them spoken like this stripped of distance made his jaw tighten. He pictured refugees, closed lanes, the familiar pattern of cruelty dressed up as strategy. It was never clean. It never stayed contained.

Madness, he thought. If the Covenant pushed into the Core, they would wake the Empire in full. That kind of attention crushed cults. It swallowed them whole. And yet… Ace was right. Fanatics did not measure cost the same way sane people did.

He rubbed a hand across his mouth, staring past the ruins for a moment. He had seen this before. Different banners. Same graves.

"You're right. We can't ignore that," Lorn said finally, quieter than before. "Letting them run loose and hoping the Empire bleeds them dry…" He shook his head once. "That's a lot of innocent people caught in between."

His eyes flicked to Sibylla as she spoke of informing the Chancellor. Sensible. Necessary. Politics would move whether they liked it or not. But his attention pulled back to Ace almost immediately. Something in the kid's stillness bothered him. Too controlled. Too distant. Lorn had worn that look himself once. After battles he survived when others didn't.

He studied him, then asked the question that had been sitting in his gut since Tapani was mentioned.

"Were you there?" Lorn asked, voice low.

He didn't press. Didn't soften it either. Jedi learned to hear pain even when it hid behind discipline.

 

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Yavin 4

Equipment:
Acolyte Robes| Lightsaber | Cybernetic Arm

Ace inclined his head once as Sibylla spoke Aurelian's name.

"Good." He said quietly. "Tell him." Then, firmer. "But don't mention me. Not that I'm inside it."

His eyes stayed on hers, steady and intent.

"The fewer people who know, the fewer threads there are to pull. For me. For anyone connected to this. That includes you."

Only then did his attention shift to Lorn. He didn't respond verbally to the older man's agreement, but something in his expression eased by a fraction... not relief, not approval, just acknowledgment. He was pleased that the understanding was there. That was enough.

But when Sibylla asked her question, Ace shifted. Enough to signal that something had changed. His shoulders squared, his jaw setting as if bracing against an internal impact rather than an external one. Whatever memory threatened to surface, he forced it back down hard.

Then Lorn asked if he'd been there.

Ace's face hardened immediately - the last traces of openness sealing shut. Whatever softness Sibylla had sensed earlier was gone now, replaced by something colder and more deliberate. Contained.

"What do you think?" He said to both of them. Flatly.

Nothing more followed. No elaboration. No defense. Only the jungle filled the silence that followed.

Ace stayed where he was, posture locked, expression unreadable... as if allowing himself to feel the cost of Tapani or Calipsa, even for a moment, would mean losing control of something he could not afford to misplace. Not now.

Then he broke that same silence, deliberately moving past what both Bylla and Lorn were trying to unpack. His gaze shifted between them once, measured.

"There's rumors that Arris Windrun keeps a den on Nar Shaddaa. I'm planning on heading to Narsh to confirm if its true."

He didn't dress it up as a gamble.

"If it really exists..." Ace continued. "I'm hoping I can pull some more data. Anything that ties her to the traitor, or clarifies how far Mercy's timeline has already advanced."

He adjusted his stance again, careful of his side, then settled. Eyes settling on Lorn, as he recalled the old man's earlier warnings and conditions back when they met on Desevro.

"I'm not asking for permission." Ace said calmly. "I'm telling you so you're not reacting blind if I disappear for a while."

Then his eyes met Sibylla's, steady, intent.

"And so you can move pieces on your end without stepping on mine."

Then they shifted between both the Jedi and the Queen.

"If I find something promising" Ace finished. "You'll hear about it. If I don't…" A faint shrug. "At least we'll know one more door's empty."

Sibylla Abrantes | Lorn Reingard​

 

[Sibylla Abrantes]

​

Lorn Reingard Acier Moonbound

Sibylla listened to what Ace said, but more than that, she listened to how he said it.

From the way he inclined his head in a controlled, almost ritualistic manner, to the terse way he spoke, as if keeping whatever emotions he had perfectly masked and locked up tight. It was almost the sort of strict composure she'd seen with the more extreme military types. This concerned her. Greatly.

And it only compounded when Lorn asked if Ace had been there, because Sibylla felt it before she fully saw it. The way tension went snapping through him, his shoulders locked, his jaw set, and the angles over his dark face hardened into something unforgiving and still, as if carved out of Hijima stone to endure storms rather than weather them.

That was the moment she knew.

Something had happened.

Something that had left a mark.

Ace answered with a flat question, offered without warmth or defense. No elaboration. No denial. No justification. The jungle swallowed the silence afterward, but Sibylla did not. Her attention narrowed until nothing existed but the man in front of her and the cost he was refusing to name.

When he pivoted back to Arris, to Nar Shaddaa, to timelines and dens and contingencies, Sibylla heard the deflection clearly. He was choosing motion over reflection, not letting himself think of the cost, moving forward without looking -- or denying looking inward. Making sure he had control over any kind of reckoning.

So when he spoke again about Nar Shaddaa, about disappearing, about finding what other open doors there might be, Sibylla felt the chill settle in her chest. Not fear for the mission. Fear for the man choosing to walk into it alone when clearly it was affecting him.

That would not stand.

"No."

The word cut cleanly through the air in a sharp, nononsense tone Ace would have never heard from her before. The word etched itself over her heartshaped face, settling in the way her hazel eyes sparked in determination, in the way her gaze narrowed and held him without yielding an inch.

"You do not need to continue this," she said firmly. "I can bring Republic Intelligence in now. I can escalate this properly to those who can move forward with this. It is time to step away."

There was no hiding the truth as she told him bluntly, the concern in her eyes tempered into a determination that dared him to deny it. To look away.

"I can already tell this is affecting you," she said, calling him out, "Adelle told me something was wrong when she saw you on Eshan," Sibylla continued, swallowing hard before she continued, "That she could sense it. I came here to see you face to face to confirm it."

She took a single step closer, not invading his space, but making it impossible for him to retreat behind distance.

"This is enough, Ace."

 

[Lorn Reingard]

Tags: Acier Moonbound | Sibylla Abrantes​

Lorn felt it tighten in his chest the moment Ace shut down. He recognized that lock. He had lived inside it for years. It kept you functional. It also hollowed you out.

Then Sibylla spoke.

Lorn lifted a brow, surprised, then exhaled slowly through his nose. Good. Someone needed to say it. He turned back to Ace, voice calm, steady, leaving no room for misinterpretation.

"I'm with her on this," he said simply.

He met Ace's gaze and held it.

 

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Yavin 4

Equipment:
Acolyte Robes| Lightsaber | Cybernetic Arm

Ace didn't answer them right away. His gaze dropped, just briefly, to the ground between them. Not avoidance, but consideration. A moment where the weight of what they were saying was allowed to register. Then he shook his head once, slow and deliberate, as if the conclusion had already been reached before the gesture finished.

When his eyes lifted again, they were steady.

"I've seen what they're willing to do." Ace said. His voice didn't rise. There was no urgency in it, no plea. Just focus. "Not second-hand, not hearsay. I've watched them decide who lives and who doesn't with no empathy."

He looked between Sibylla and Lorn, making sure the words landed where they needed to.

"This isn't fun and games, they're not going to stop on their own." He paused. "So, unless you or Lorn are ready to drop the full weight of the Republic or the Jedi Order on them, go to where they sleep and wipe them out in one move, then fine. I'll step away. Gladly."

The word wasn't sarcastic. It was honest.

"But if that's not happening." He went on, "Then I stay where I am."

He let the silence sit there, heavy and unresolved. Then he pinched the bridge of his nose, eyes closing for a second, not from strain, but from containment. When he spoke again, his voice was still flat. Controlled.

"Yeah." Ace said. "It's affecting me. It was always going to. We all knew this."

His eyes opened, returning to them.

"If I pull out now, we lose inside information. The advantage. If I walk away now, the Covenant keeps moving anyway."

He straightened fully then, posture set, decision locked in.

"I'm seeing this through." Ace said quietly. "I hope you stay with me in it. I'll understand if you don't."

The choice was entirely theirs. But he knew where he stood and stayed firm in why he was doing this. To keep them all safe.

Sibylla Abrantes | Lorn Reingard​

 

[Sibylla Abrantes]

​

Acier Moonbound Lorn Reingard

One second passed.

Then another.

A third.

Sibylla stood watching Acier, noting every subtle tell as he worked through whatever he was feeling, whatever he was holding at bay, all while trying to keep himself and his expression carefully controlled, determined to keep everything in order.

And Sibylla's heart ached for it.

The frustration, the concern, the fierce resolve that had driven her moments before were overtaken by a sharp swell of empathy -- a restrained, exasperated sort. She felt for him, genuinely. She could see how deeply this was affecting him, and yet he steadfastly refused to look inward. What made it more difficult still was that he was not entirely wrong. Ace was already positioned to gather information they desperately needed, particularly if an attack on the Core was truly imminent.

And yet...

Was she truly prepared to risk losing her friend to that necessity?

Was the greater good always meant to demand such a cost?

Sibylla's lips thinned as she dragged her fingers through her hair, dislodging her ponytail so that loose strands fell to frame her face in disarray.

"Staying with you is not the subject of this conversation, Ace," she said, stepping closer, her tone controlled but unmistakably firm. "You are... and how this will affect you." She lifted a hand and tapped his chest pointedly, as though emphasizing a matter of simple reason.

"Yes, I understand that if you withdraw now, we lose valuable insight and a strategic advantage," she continued. "But that advantage is purchased at the risk of losing you."

Another tap, her eyes bright with gold and green flecks, steady and unflinching.

"I have no desire to lose you, to watch you diminish yourself in service to a cause, however noble it may appear. And if you are expending all your effort containing what you witnessed, what you felt, and what you are so determined to plunge yourself into, I must ask -- how much of yourself are you prepared to sacrifice before those who care for you scarcely recognize the man standing before them?"

A quiet, frustrated breath escaped her, completely forgetting about Lorn Reingard presence as she became even more passionate than before.

"You told me on Rishi that you would know when matters had shifted beyond your control, and that you would leave when they did." Perhaps it was naïve to remind him of it now, but she did so all the same.

"You gave me your word," Sibylla finished, her gaze unwavering. "And now, when I tell you plainly how I see this changing you, you will not even consider stepping away?"

 

[Lorn Reingard]

Tags: Acier Moonbound | Sibylla Abrantes​

Lorn stayed where he was and let her speak.

He watched Ace take it, watched Sibylla's words land one after another. There was bite there. More than he'd expected. He filed that away, a quiet revision of his first impression. Maybe he had her wrong. Maybe she was exactly what this mess needed.

His own thoughts didn't wander far from hers. He'd made the same promises once. He'd broken them too.

When Ace finally looked at him, Lorn lifted both hands, palms out, taking a step back.

"Don't look at me," he said calmly.

He nodded toward Sibylla, eyes steady.

"Answer her."

 

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Yavin 4

Equipment:
Acolyte Robes| Lightsaber | Cybernetic Arm

He watched as Sibylla dragged her fingers through her hair, the careful composure she usually wore slipping just enough for loose strands to fall around her face. He knew it wasn't performative. It was frustration bleeding through control... a mirror of his own, in a way.

He stayed still as she stepped closer, glancing down at her. The tap against his chest was light, but deliberate. Her words about losing him settled deep, heavier than anything else she'd said. Not because they were unfair, but because they were true. But when she asked him how much of himself he was willing to sacrifice, he felt the edge of something dangerous there, expression hardening.

Everything. He thought. I'd give all of it if it meant the people I care about stay standing.

The thought was immediate. Absolute. Non-negotiable. And that was precisely why he said nothing.

When she mentioned Rishi, when she reminded him of his promise, his gaze drifted, just briefly, lowering into memory. Tracyn Island. Salt air. The version of himself that had stood there with her and believed he could draw clean lines around what he would and wouldn't become. That man felt distant now. Not gone... but unbearably naïve.

He let her finish, and when she did, silence stretched between them. Then Ace looked to Lorn. Not for rescue or support. Just a quiet glance that asked, if there was anything he wanted to add.

Lorn's refusal came quickly. Cleanly. Ace nodded once, accepting it, and turned back to Sibylla.

"I remember..." He said at last. His voice was calm, still controlled. "I gave you my word" He paused. "But plans change."

His eyes stayed on hers, steady, unflinching.

"I told you then that I wouldn't go down the same path as Lysander." Ace continued. "And I won't. I'm not chasing power. I'm not losing myself to belief."

His jaw tightened slightly as something sharper crept in, not anger, but revulsion.

"I hate what they are." He said quietly. "The rot. The way they turn cruelty into structure and call it purpose. Being around it makes me sick. They're like pests. Vermin."

And vermin... had to be exterminated. Though he did not say this aloud. Instead, he paused again - longer this time.

"I can't walk away from this and rest easy." Ace said. " Not until I know they're finished. All of them."

He didn't raise his voice, nor did he reach for her. Or even retreat. He simply held firm. He wasn't asking her to accept it, he was asking her to understand it.

Sibylla Abrantes | Lorn Reingard​

 

[Lorn Reingard]

Tags: Acier Moonbound | Sibylla Abrantes​

Lorn listened longer than he wanted to. He let Ace talk himself into certainty, into clean lines and hard conclusions. He heard the language shift. Not tactics. Not duty. Purpose sharpened into something else. Lorn felt a familiar chill settle in his spine. He had heard these words before, spoken by friends who never came back the same. Some never came back at all.

That was enough. He stepped forward and placed a firm hand on Ace's shoulder.

"They are not vermin, Ace," Lorn said plainly. His voice was calm, but it carried weight. The kind that came from standing in too many ruins and burying too many names.

"They are people," he continued. "Just like you. Just like me. Susceptible to fear. To power. To the Dark Side." His grip tightened slightly, anchoring Ace in place. "They are not beneath you. And you are not above them."

Lorn held his gaze. He needed Ace to hear this, not just register it. "The Force doesn't write anyone off," he said. "Not them. Not you. Redemption doesn't stop being possible because it's inconvenient."

A moment of silence passed. Lorn's jaw set.

"I knew Lysander," he said. "I know his old Master too. And do you know what Lysander said, right before it all went wrong?" His thumb pressed in, just a little. "The same things you're saying now."

Lorn shook his head once. "The Dark Side doesn't start with ambition. It starts when you decide some lives matter less, because it makes the mission easier."

He eased his grip but didn't remove his hand. "You think you're holding the line," Lorn said. "I think you're standing on it, bleeding, pretending it's solid ground."

His eyes flicked briefly to Sibylla, then back to Ace. "She's right," he said.

Lorn leaned in slightly, voice lower now. "Strength isn't seeing this through alone," he said. "It's knowing when to stop before the thing you hate decides who you become."

He held Ace there, steady. "Listen to her," Lorn finished. "Listen to me. Don't make us add your name to the list of people who were sure they were right."

 

[Sibylla Abrantes]

​

Lorn Reingard Acier Moonbound

Sibylla felt the words land before she fully understood them.

Ace's voice had already left her unsettled, the way his certainty had hardened into something immovable, the way disgust had slipped so easily into judgment. She had been forming a reply when the man beside them stepped forward and spoke.

They are not vermin.

The phrase struck Sibylla with unexpected force. She found herself agreeing instinctively, fiercely, even as her stomach twisted. People were not abstractions. She learned that lesson all too painfully well recently in the wake of the broadcast by Aether.

Which now made her wonder, was Ace talking this way because he had seen it?

The more she thought of it, the more it became certain. Of course, Ace had seen it. Of course, it had lodged itself somewhere deep, aggravating wounds she already suspected were there. The question was, had it only sharpened his resolve or had it now stripped away any restraint he had, and that is why he was doing this?

Perhaps both.

Her mind raced through the many avenues this could possibly take and how she might reach Ace regarding the matter. But the man was just so utterly, damnably stubborn.

So much like Lysander.

The realization stung more than she expected. Why was it always those touched by the Force who believed themselves most capable of bearing its weight alone? Why were they so willing to walk that knife-edge without accounting for the cost?

Ace knew what she had lost. He knew how Lysander's certainty had ended. And yet here he stood, telling her that plans changed.

Yet what happened next made Sibylla do a double take. The man Ace had invited spoke of Lysander with familiarity.

Wait, he knew Lys?

The world seemed to narrow to a single point as the implications crashed into place. The navpoints began to click into place. This was no bystander or a mere ally, but a Jedi. From the Jedi Order. Someone who had known Lysander well enough to speak of him without guessing.

Someone who knew his old Master. Someone who had watched this path unfold before.

The ache she had long since learned to live with surged back to the surface. Sibylla bit her lower lip hard, holding herself still as memory and grief pressed close as Lorn continued to speak.

She watched Lorn's hand settle on Ace's shoulder. Watched the way he spoke not with authority, but with the weary certainty of someone who had seen too many names added to a list that should never have existed.

She turned her gaze fully to Ace with that open, vulnerable way she rarely allowed herself to be.

"He is right," she said softly, her voice carrying none of the heat from before. "And so am I."

She took another breath.

"I can argue with you until the stars burn out, and you will still find a way to justify this," Sibylla continued. "But if you will not listen to me as the friend who cares for you, then listen to him as someone who has watched this end before."

Hazel eyes flicked briefly to Lorn, gratitude and pain mingling there, before returning to Ace.

"I have already lost one friend, Ace. I do not want to lose you."

 

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Yavin 4

Equipment:
Acolyte Robes| Lightsaber | Cybernetic Arm

Ace didn't pull away when Lorn's hand landed on his shoulder. Instead, he turned his head just enough to look at it. The placement. The firmness.

He listened to every word. Lorn's certainty, his insistence on humanity, on redemption. For a fleeting second, something close to a scoff flickered behind Ace's eyes. Of course the Jedi could say that. He was standing outside the machine. He hadn't watched the Covenant decide, again and again, that suffering was an acceptable byproduct. Hadn't seen how casually they handed out death. How unapologetic they were about it. How indifferent.

That was what made them vermin. Not because they were people, but because they treated life like waste. Redemption? For most of them, that door had been welded shut by choice. By repetition.

Maybe Lysander was different. Maybe.

Ace didn't voice any of it. But Lorn said Lysander's name, Ace stiffened, just slightly. A reflex. For half a breath, he wondered if the man beside him had somehow brushed his thoughts. Then he dismissed it.

Still… it was strange, the way Lysander sat at the center of this. Lorn had known him. Sibylla had lost him. And Ace... Ace still believed there was something worth saving there. The irony wasn't lost on him.

He stayed silent as Lorn finished. Then Sibylla spoke. Ace turned fully to her, and whatever edge had crept into him earlier dulled. He didn't look away from the vulnerability in her eyes.

When he finally spoke, his voice was calm. Even.

"You won't lose me." Ace said. "I'm not going to be a name on a list. I'm not in over my head." His gaze was steady, unwavering. "I know exactly what this is. And I know exactly what I need to do."

He reached up then, gently but firmly, and removed Lorn's hand from his shoulder.

"Maybe you're not wrong." Ace continued. "But I'm not either. Galaxy's already choking under the Empire. If the Covenant is allowed to replace it, if they're the ones left standing, then everyone pays for that. Everyone."

His jaw set.

"I'm sorry." Ace said, not unkindly. "But I'm not stepping down."

He looked between them - Sibylla, then Lorn. There was no challenge in his expression. Just resolve.

"With you." He said evenly. "Or without you."

If they were afraid of losing him? Of him becoming another name? This was the only way how. He wasn't moving.

Sibylla Abrantes | Lorn Reingard​

 

[Lorn Reingard]

Tags: Acier Moonbound | Sibylla Abrantes​

Lorn felt Ace lift his hand away. He didn't resist it. Just watched the kid do it. A quiet hmph escaped him before he could stop it. Not mocking. Tired. Familiar.

He turned and walked a few steps off, boots crunching softly over stone and moss until the old temple filled his view. Massive. Patient. Still standing after empires rose and burned themselves out against it. Figures. The Force had a sense of humor like that.

So this was the line Ace chose. Lorn folded his arms and stared up at the carved stone, letting the weight of it settle. He had said his piece. Said it clearly. After that, there was nothing left to force. He'd learned that lesson the hard way. You could warn someone about the edge, but you couldn't walk it for them.

He'd watched friends swear they knew what they were doing. Watched them harden. Watched them disappear behind certainty. Some came back broken. Some didn't come back at all.

Ace might make it. He might not. That was the truth, and Lorn didn't dress it up. "I think I'll stay here a while," he called over his shoulder, voice easy. He glanced back just enough to include both of them. "Stay nearby," he added. "In case you need someone to bail you out."

He considered his next words a moment before saying them. "Or drag you back."

He turned back to the temple, already feeling the coming heat at his spine. He didn't need to look to know Sibylla would have something to say about this. She had that look about her. Lorn sighed quietly. Worth it. The kid would walk his path. Lorn would be close enough to catch him if he fell. Or stand witness if he didn't.

That was all he could offer now.