Private Running Against the Wind

[Katarine Ryiah]

Seems like yesterday​

Location: Lothal
Objective: Escape Planet
Tags: Acier Moonbound


Katarine knew she had no business being on Lothal. The Imperial Confederation was already extending its shadow over the planet, creeping outward from its neighboring territories. The Core was no better as yet another Galactic Empire had taken root there. So many had given their lives in the Rebellion only for the galaxy to fall back into the same cycle of tyranny. The bitter irony drew a faint smirk to her lips, but underneath it was pain she refused to examine. That was the story of her life these days, and the reason she'd come to this dust-blown world.

The market in Dinar bustled around her, a chaos of hawkers, spice-sellers, and scavengers shouting over one another. Kat kept her head down, moving with the weary shuffle of the poor laborer she pretended to be. For the last month she had worked as a sap collector in the forests north of the settlement, a cover to explain her presence and to disguise her true intent. She might have abandoned the dream of destroying the Empire, but the old lessons of the Rebellion were etched into her bones: never get identified, never get caught. Cloak drawn tight, she slipped between stalls, weapons hidden beneath the folds, her blaster and her lightsabers, though she prayed she'd never need to draw them.

Her mission was simple, or so she told herself. She wanted only to see the children at the orphanage north of town, to watch them play for a few stolen minutes. Reconnaissance had given her the schedule; she knew when they would be outside. But her reasons were far too personal to admit, even in the privacy of her own mind. To reveal any connection would put those children in danger, and she had sworn never again to be the cause of a child's suffering. Her head told her to turn back, yet her heart drove her forward.

A faint scowl tugged at her brow as her boots struck dust. Someone was behind her with the same cadence, and same pace for at least seven meters. Coincidence? She doubted it. Ducking down a side street, she stopped at a merchant stand stacked high with rare meiloorun fruit. She picked one up, pressing its skin between her fingers as if testing for ripeness, while her eyes flicked over her shoulder. No one seemed to be watching, but the unease coiled in her gut refused to ease. She set the fruit back down and slipped onward, ears straining for those same pursuing footsteps.

Then her senses shifted. A flicker rippled through the Force, drawing her gaze sideways just in time to see a boy no older than seven tug a piece of fruit into his palm without touching it. Kat froze. Her stomach dropped. She prayed no one else had noticed, but the prayer came too late.

"A padawan! Get him! There's a bounty on their heads!"

Kat closed her eyes for a heartbeat. She couldn't intervene. To do so would unravel everything. Her cover. Her mission. Everything.

"Sithspit." The curse hissed from her lips as she turned, her body moving before her thoughts could catch up. Her boot arced in a sharp roundhouse, cracking against a stormtrooper's helmet. He crumpled, giving her the precious seconds she needed to drag the boy behind her. Blaster fire erupted in the market.

"Move, kid!" she barked, shoving him down a narrow alley as troopers gave chase, their coms already squawking for reinforcements.

This was the last thing she needed. What she needed now, more than anything, was a way off this planet before anyone realized who she truly was, and why she had come here.

 

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Lothal

Equipment:
Training Jumpsuit | Lightsaber | Modified DL-27 | Tic

Ace had stopped off on Lothal to resupply and refuel. Ironic, since he was already on a supply run for the Path - for Snowpeak Sanctuary. To be specific. The Flickerfox was fast and stealthy enough, nor did she draw attention unlike any of the other starships in the Path.

Then there was Ace himself, officially he belonged to no one and served no one. Empire? The Sith? Wouldn't give him a second look. Which made him perfect for little runs like this.

Tic tooted something curiously, pointing out some repair parts at one of the vendors. Positioned snugly on Ace's shoulder, his head bowed in the direction of what he was referring to.

"So you've learned to backseat shop now, too?" he asked disapprovingly "Who's teaching you this stuff?"

The BD unit fired something back in Binary, something that made Ace roll his eyes. It seemed like the little droid was becoming more bold the more time they spent together.

"Essentials only, Tic."

Tic said something else, beeping almost frantically and bouncing in place as he said so.

"What're you talking about? The Flickerfox's--I did her maintenance last week." Ace argued.

He didn't both continuing, throwing his hands in the air and sighing. Ace wasn't about to entertain this. Simply, he nudged Tic with his shoulder, adjusted the straps of his pack and continued on his way through the Dinar market. Honestly, he didn't know what he was still doing here as he was pretty certain he had everything needed. Maybe it was just to kill time, or something else.

Then he heard it. Someone hollering about a Padawan... and bounties. Ace sighed and without hesitation, he turned around ready to engage and defend whoever'd just been outed. Only, he didn't need to. He watched as a woman had roundhouse kicked a Stormtrooper, clean on the helmet. Cracking it, even.

Then he watched as she dragged the kid away with other Stormtroopers in pursuit, lighting up the market in red.

Tic chirped sympathetically, but also with uncharacteristic determination. Eyes still on the commotion, the ashen haired rebel simply nodded before breaking off into a sprint after them. He followed them into the alley way they'd turned into, refusing to slow. His lightsaber was in his hand with a snap-hiss, blade catching the attention of the Stormtroopers pursuing the woman and the Padawan.

One of the bucketheads turned to adjust aim, but Ace was already inside his guard. His blade carved through the rifle, then cracked across the trooper's chest plate with the force of his shove. Another swung the butt of his weapon at Ace's head, he ducked low, swept his leg, and the man went down hard.

All the countless situations he'd found himself in recent months? They forced Ace to grow and advance much faster than someone with his level of training normally would.

Leaping over the squad of troopers, he landed in between the woman and Padawan, and their pursuers. Then it hit him, the woman behind him? The Force flowed through her, like it did both him and the Padawan. She held a fire within her but it was faint, tired even.

"You may as well use it if you got it. No point hiding." He said, indirectly referring to the woman as he stared down the Stormtroopers.

Katarine Ryiah

 

[Katarine Ryiah]

But it was long ago​

Tags: Acier Moonbound

Katarine yanked the boy into the narrow alley as crimson bolts of blaster fire scorched the walls behind them. She'd expected trouble, but not the sudden arrival of a young man who threw himself into the fight at her side. In the five years since her unthawing, she had pieced together the fractured state of the galaxy. The Jedi Order had risen after the Rebellion, even flourished for a time. So seeing another Jedi wasn't impossible. Still, it wasn't something she had dared to expect.

"You may as well use it if you've got it," he called over the hiss of blasterfire. "No point hiding."

So.. he could sense her. Her control over her Force signature had atrophied during centuries of stasis; hiding herself had become a lost discipline. For a heartbeat she considered running, her deep green eyes flicking toward the far end of the alley. Then upward to security cameras linning the rooftops like watchful eyes. The Empire would have her tagged and logged before the night was out. If she ignited her saber, there would be no pretending, no talking her way out of this.

Her thoughts darted to the orphanage. One child's face burned bright in her mind, her chest tightening with the weight of impending loss. The grief lasted only a breath. Another squad of stormtroopers rounded the corner, cutting off both exits.

"Stay down, kid!" she barked.

The boy dove behind a crate just as the sharp snap-hiss split the alley. Her ancient white blade ignited, its glow painting her features in pale fire before she fell into motion.

Then came the storm.

Her body remembered what her mind doubted. The lightsaber became an extension of her will, intercepting bolts in a seamless dance of defense and reprisal. She flowed through the troopers like a river through stone, graceful, relentless, disarming, cutting, silencing. Each movement was second nature, the choreography of decades past, carried out by a dancer who could never forget the steps.

The young man fought rough, but with surprising power. Between his raw talent and her precision, the squad faltered, then collapsed.

When the smoke cleared, she stood motionless in the fading hum of her saber, deep green eyes burning with fierce light. With a snap, she extinguished the blade. A flick of her hand ripped the security cameras from their perches; they crashed into the alley, sparking at her feet.

"We have to move."

Her voice was calm, but tight. If her new ally didn't have a plan, then they were nothing more than prey waiting for the next net to fall.

 

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Lothal

Equipment:
Training Jumpsuit | Lightsaber | Modified DL-27 | Tic

White fire cut through the smoke, painting the woman in a pale glow. She didn't fight like someone rediscovering an old skill but someone who'd never let it go. Every sweep of her blade was sharp, practiced, like memory turned into muscle.

A bolt hissed toward him and he snapped back into motion, deflecting it wide before barreling into the nearest trooper. Another fell when he shouldered him hard into the alley wall. It was enough to keep her flank clear, but he couldn't shake what he was seeing. The Force burned through her, steady but worn, like coals refusing to go dark. Fierce light in tired hands.

Blaster smoke still hung in the alley when Ace's blade hissed off. He blew out a short breath, eyes flicking to the sparking cameras she'd just torn down.

"Subtle." He muttered with a lopsided grin. "Guess low profile's really out the window now."

Then he jerked his chin toward the southern streets. Tic beeped once and projected a quick map overlay in faint blue light, the little droid's lens wobbling toward the southside docks.

"My ship's docked that way. Flickerfox. Fast enough to beat whatever they scramble, if we move now."

His dark eyes flicked toward the crates, he saw the boy's head peek out. Ace's palm lifted, fingers opening in a slow curl toward himself, the gesture patient but insistent. Once the boy had stepped away, he rushed toward Kat - hiding behind her.

Without waiting to askk if they were ready, Ace darted toward the alley exit. Sirens wailed somewhere deeper in the city, their echo bleeding into the market noise behind them. Tic clung to him as he cut left through a service lane, vaulted a low barrier, then skidded around another corner.

For a moment, the path opened - the faint gleam of the docks flickered ahead between stacks of shipping crates. They were almost there.

Then the ground shook. A repulsor whine split the air as an Imperial troop carrier roared into place at the far end of the street, floodlights snapping on in blinding beams. White armor spilled out in formation, rifles already rising.

Ace drew up short, breath catching as he snapped his lightsaber back to life. The blue glow licked against his face, sharp grin tugging even as tension coiled in his chest.

"Nothing's ever simple." he muttered, eyes cutting to Kat.

Tic scurried down to Ace's backpack, clinging to it as laster barrels leveled on them in unison. The first volley was about to fall.

Katarine Ryiah​

 

[Katarine Ryiah]

She was the queen of my nights
​

Tags: Acier Moonbound


They slipped out of the alley, and Katarine could only hope the shattered cameras would keep the Imperials from tracking which way they'd gone. She kept a firm grip on the boy's arm as they ran, his small legs struggling to keep pace. A sudden ache twisted her chest when she noticed the insignia on his tunic. the orphanage uniform. So he had no parents to search for him. At least there would be no accusations of kidnapping. Small mercies.

The docks loomed ahead, just as her mysterious ally had promised. A ship waited. Safety waited. Part of her wanted to turn away, to resist being drawn deeper into someone else's plan but there was no time for doubts. A troop transport screeched overhead, descending in a wash of dust and exhaust. The ramp dropped, and stormtroopers poured out, blasters raised.

Katarine's blade snapped to life, the ancient white glow casting firelight in her green eyes. She shoved the boy behind her with one hand, the other already moving in a blur, turning aside the hail of bolts that came screaming their way. Step by step she guided him backward, shielding him with every strike and parry. The enemy numbers swelled, more than they could hope to cut through. And if someone fell, she knew it would be the child. Not this time. Not on her watch.

"We need cover!" she shouted over the chaos. "A different way in!"

Her gaze flicked to her companion, searching his face for agreement, for any plan at all. Maybe they could smuggle the boy back to the orphanage before making a stand. Or maybe that was just her own wish, that this whole desperate flight hadn't already been for nothing.