Private The Least of These Monsters

[Ala Quin]

Their numerous sparring sessions had more intent than their current display. Each strike left them open to counterstrikes, that both were more than skilled at using to their advantage, or even to end the duel completely. But neither did.

Instead, the swatted away half-attempts at a show of aggression.

For Ala though, she understood the stakes. There may have only been four conscious sentients in the courtyard, but there were cameras everywhere. Their were droids recording each strike. Each partial attempt at ending the downward spiral of the Vanguard. Anything that happened after this moment, there would be some that would blame Ala for not being capable of administering what was necessary in the moment. And she would likely agree.

Concussive blasts of fire rained down about them from the ship that came to pick the fugitives up. The barrier surrounding them would absorb or redirect it all. What it did do, was hide them away in a cloud of debris. Shutting the two Jedi blademasters off from view.

Trust. He spoke of it like it was something that could be given after what he had already done. After the words he had said about the Council she led. The arrogance was preposterous.

"I will not fight you, Ala," Lorn said quietly. "You'll have to strike me down."

Despite not being seen, she understood what needed to be done. And the burden of the chair rested all the heavier on her shoulders.

In a flourish of blades, Ala swatted Lorn's lax efforts to the side, swiped her free blade across his thigh...and pivoted as he fell to his knees. The spin brought the tip of her amber blade to his throat.

"I will always love you, Lorn," she said, voice cracking under the weight of the moment.

| Lorn Reingard Colette Acier Moonbound Her |
| Hit called with permission |​

 

[Lorn Reingard]

Tags: Acier Moonbound | Her | Ala Quin | Colette​

Agony flared through Lorn's thigh as Ala's blade bit deep, taking his leg out from under him. He hit the stone hard on one knee, his Force barrier shattering into nothing as the plasma tip settled against his throat. Dust and smoke from the ship's assault choked the air, turrets exploding overhead while Kitt Solo laid down suppressing fire. Steadying his breathing, Lorn kept his gaze locked on Ala's weary face.

The mission comes first, Lorn projected through the Force to Acier, refusing to let his partner get dragged back into a cell over his own refusal to strike. Get the Sith on board.

Lorn knew he was in the wrong here. He understood her duty, the weight of the Council, and the laws he was breaking. Standing on principles didn't make the betrayal hurt any less, but doing what was necessary rarely felt easy.

"Do what you must," Lorn said softly, closing his eyes in total surrender.

The Force swirled around him as he waited for the final strike. Suddenly, a shift in the air occured. Half a dozen Temple Guards materialized along the perimeter of the courtyard, moving in precise formation. Instead of targeting Lorn and Acier, the guards raised their hands in unison, channeling the Force to tear through the heavy stone columns supporting the roof turrets.

Duracrete shattered and exploded inward, crushing the automated defenses in a cascade of fire and falling rubble. Whether Lorn's emergency beacon had reached them or old loyalties to their former Gatemaster still ran deep, the path was suddenly blown wide open. His eyes shot open and he threw his hand upward, Lorn instantly forged a dense Force bubble around himself, Ala, and the prisoner, shielding them both as massive chunks of debris rained down around them.

Through it all he still kept his eyes on her. He didn't say as much, but the love in his eyes was still there.

 

[Her]

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"The dark side will devour those who lack the power to control it. It's a fierce storm of emotion that annihilates anything in its path. It lays waste to the weak and unworthy."

"But those who are strong can ride the storm winds to unfathomable heights. They can unlock their true potential; they can sever the chains that bind them; they can dominate the world around them. Only those with the power to control the dark side can ever truly be free."
-- Darth Bane.

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Tags: Acier Moonbound | Ala Quin | Lorn Reingard | Colette | Kitt Solo

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There are many roads when it comes to traversing the pathology of the Dark Side of the Force.

Most venture down the road which leads to strength and in tow that leads to power as Syn described in her code. There are other, more sinister practises, however. It was Ayra who taught her apprentice that the truest manifestation and reflection of the Dark Side stems from betrayal in that it is betrayal itself which epitomizes the Sith incarnate.

Immersed in the tapestry of Bane, he would smile upon our work.

"Do what you must."

Rock and debris cascaded around the Force Bubble as Ala stood over the fallen Gatekeeper. Reingard's heart was in the right place. The things he had told Ala, Colette and the other Jedi (even before this incident in the sanctuary) were all true. There was a mighty, powerful Sith Empire which lingered beyond the anomaly called the Black Wall with all it's might, strength and power dwarfing this fledging, comparatively tiny High Republic in the Mid-systems. Knowledge can be a blessing. But it can also be a curse. Evil is spreads everywhere clouding the Jedi's vision on the Force itself and in the fog two lovers stood on the precipice of a catastrophe as they tried to fight their way to do the right thing.

Lorn used his powers to hold the bubble around them, less the falling columns and ceiling toppled downwards to crush himself, his wife, and the prisoner that he had come to take away to D'Qar. Ala, with her yellow blade held in tow, stood over a man she so desperately loves and wants to save from this path that can only lead to his ruination. She has a choice: to extinguish Lorn's life and to do her duty as the Jedi Grandmaster or to let him go and ruin himself as he begun to chase the eradication of the Sith Covenant.

Her took the choice out of her hands.

In all of the commotion of the fighting and destruction, the strange and enigmatic prisoner, who wore the name of a fallen Jedi as if it were a well-built disguise, dropped the Force Collar from her neck, and as it begun to drop down towards the cracked marble floor beneath them, their other hand summoned Reingard's Lightsaber and caught the pommel in her fist. In a carving, fluid, arcing swing from behind Her cleaved Lorn's sword into Ala's exposed back and dropped the Jedi Grandmaster into the dirt before the collar touched the ground.

There is, of course, the other pertinent facts of which those who traverse these paths are ignorant towards or arrogant about. The Dark Side can be blinding. Terribly so. It is often convoluted, and full of ironies. As Reingard's weapon sizzled in the fist of a woman who dared to defy the Sword of Shiraya's blade, Her could not know that Lorn never intended Ala any harm. In these split moments between rising up from the ground, as a spectre unseen amid the chaos, as Her finally moved to strike down the Jedi Grandmaster, Reingard had his weapon as non-lethal the entire time.

In a moment of victory, Her believed she had finally slain her enemy, as freedom beckoned on the horizon...

...unknowing that Ala was still alive at her feet...​

---

 

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Naboo - Shiraya's Sanctuary

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

Thundering thrusters suddenly tore through the mountains overhead. Ace's head snapped upward just as the transport screamed across the sanctuary. Heavy laser cannons roared, ripping through the courtyard's perimeter defenses. Explosions erupted around him, showering the stone with twisted metal, shattered duracrete, and choking clouds of smoke and dust. The violent barrage stole his concentration for a heartbeat, the turret he'd been holding aloft crashed back to the ground with a deafening clang.

Instinctively, Ace threw an arm across his face as fragments of stone tore through the cloth of his garments. Beside him, Tic let out a panicked shriek, clinging tighter to his back.

His lightsaber was already moving again. Blue stun rings continued to streak toward him, dissolving harmlessly against the blade as he fought to reestablish his rhythm. The ground beneath his feet lurched and shifted unnaturally, refusing to stay still beneath each step. He adjusted as best he could, planting his weight carefully to keep from losing his footing.

Through the chaos, Colette's voice reached him. He heard every word but simply couldn't afford to look away. Another blast from the transport thundered overhead. Dust surged upward once more, only to twist unnaturally around him. Countless grains spiraled together into a tightening vortex, swallowing him inside a localized storm.

Ace's jaw tightened and his free hand twitched as he could feel it again. The familiar whisper at the edge of his mind. The dark side promising greater strength. Greater control. An easier solution. Before temptation could become action, Colette stepped through the storm herself. She asked him why he was doing this.

"Making things right." Ace answered quietly.

Then Lorn's voice echoed through his thoughts.

The mission comes first, Lorn projected through the Force to Acier, refusing to let his partner get dragged back into a cell over his own refusal to strike. Get the Sith on board.

Ace's stomach dropped. No. The Sith could go to hell for all he cared. He wasn't abandoning Lorn. A concussive wave of telekinetic force exploded outward from Ace, tearing the dust storm apart and driving toward Colette as Ace immediately sprinted past the clearing haze toward Lorn.

Half a dozen Temple Guards suddenly materialized along the courtyard's edge. Ace shifted instinctively, preparing to fight them all to get to Lorn. Instead, they raised their hands in unison and the towering stone pillars supporting the mounted turrets exploded apart.

He never saw what happened inside the chaos. What Her had done to Ala. His attention was already locked onto Lorn's shimmering Force bubble as massive sections of the collapsing structure came crashing down around it.

Realizing every ounce of Lorn's concentration was committed to holding the barrier together, Ace reached out through the Force and caught the largest section of falling masonry before it could batter against the shield, wrenching it violently aside.

With the immediate danger contained, his attention snapped toward the descending transport. Using telekinesis, he hurled the remaining chunks of rubble and twisted debris away from its approach, carving a clear landing corridor through the ruined courtyard.

Lorn Reingard | Her | Colette | Ala Quin​

 

[Colette]

Lorn Reingard / Her / Ala Quin / Acier Moonbound
Hard to expect the unexpected. As far as answers went, ‘making things right’ would have to do given the circumstances that were rapidly devolving.

The prisoner broke out of the collars and made a swipe for Ala. Much like Acier broke the storm, Colette relinquished her control of it to make a dash for ‘Her’ and to tackle her to the ground where she’d try to wrench the lightsaber out of Her’s hands and keep ‘Her’ pinned to the ground.

All this because of heartbreak? Colette’s patience was wearing thin.

 

[Ala Quin]

Clouded by loss, grief and the duty that bound her actions, Ala pulled back her arm, prepared to plunge her blade into Lorn's heart.

And then...

In a flurry of motion, the world changed. Her body convulsed as the stun power of Lorn's blade, wielded by the former Jedi, sliced up her back.

The Grandmaster went limp. Her eyes dimmed. And as she fell, she lost consciousness, coming to rest at her beloved's feet.

| Lorn Reingard Her Colette Acier Moonbound |​

 

[Lorn Reingard]

Tags: Acier Moonbound | Her | Ala Quin | Colette​

Closing his eyes, Lorn waited for the final strike, mourning a life that had boiled down to a series of tragic, miscalculated sacrifices. The thought of leaving his daughter behind forever squeezed his heart, followed by a bitter wave of guilt over Acier and Bastila. Who would protect the young wolf now? Who would temper Bastila's explosive impulses? All the loss, the sleepless nights, and the broken vows had led to this single, pathetic moment. It felt fitting that his grand crusade ended on a cold stone floor at the hands of the woman he loved.

A sudden shift in the Force shattered the silence. Lorn snapped his eyes open just in time to watch Ala's yellow blade extinguish as her body went limp, crumbling into the dirt at his feet. Seeing the woman he loved struck down from behind ignited a blinding rage. He didn't know whose weapon had hit her or how the Sith had freed herself, only that the monster was standing over Ala's unconscious form.

Colette surged forward in a frantic dive to tackle the prisoner, but Lorn threw out a hand and unleashed a violent Force wave, shoving the quartermaster backward across the stone... the Sith was his. Pushing through the searing pain in his wounded thigh, Lorn surged to his feet with a roar, pulling Ala's fallen hilt into his grip. Yellow plasma ignited instantly. He launched into a relentless, wild assault, swinging with heavy, furious blows that drove the Sith backward across the cracked marble. Her barely managed to lock blades against his overwhelming power, her heels skidding through the rubble as Lorn pressed the attack, abandoning all Jedi composure for vengeful force.

With a brutal, sweeping strike, he battered her defense aside and sent the lightsaber spinning out of her grip. He tossed his own weapon into the dirt as the Temple Guards acted in unison, focusing their combined Force power into a crushing stasis field to lock the Sith in place. Stepping into her space, Lorn pulled back a heavy, gloved fist, driving a vicious right hook straight toward her jaw to knock her out cold.

 

[Her]

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Tags: Acier Moonbound | Lorn Reingard | Ala Quin | Colette

---

A plume of smoke covered what was left of the courtyard. Columns formerly made of the finest marble and Nabooian architecture had to offer laid in the dust, the debris and the dirt where the Jedi Grandmaster's body laid prone before the Dark Lord of the Sith. The yellow beam sizzled in it's ignition emanating from the end of the Jedi's pommel above Ala Quin and with it came everything coming to fruition. A near century of plotting, hiding and building of schemes, in the shadows, had brought down the leader of the Jedi Order before the feet of one who followed in the footsteps of Bane; a woman from a generation of Sith Lords who followed in the pathology of the Rule of Two.

Reverent in emotion, heralded as the inevitable, Her's eyes rolled back in the ecstasy of the moment as the Force itself anointed her. Invisible hands clasped at her back to tug and elevate the Dark Lord for revenge had been ascertained, taken and executed in a perfect moment. The beast within raised it's snout and with it's bared fangs it could taste victory in it's mouth. Ala was no-more. At last Her would be free of them. There would be no-more guilt. No seminal ties to the past that would offer to distract Her from the work. None of that uncanny ability to see right through Her as she lied, deceived and manipulated. With the Grandmaster's death came a true anointment that was far more potent and tangible than when Her surmounted Ayra and displaced her in the two-millennia old dichotomy.

Her had never felt more powerful in this moment. She felt inevitable now. As if everything else that Her ever conspired or thought after tonight would be axiomatic.

SHRAK!

Reingard was back on his feet. As Her reacted she could barely see Colette being thrown by her as the Shattered Sword unleashed devastating, brutal strikes in a fit of rage inspired by Ala being cut down right in front of him. Her did not even have a moment to try and trick Lorn. To say that she had saved his life. Not that it would matter. Reingard was unrelenting. Ruthless in his surprise attack. Little did either of them know that the Grandmaster did not die after Her cut Ala down. It was ironic. In one moment Reingard's mercy prevented the Dark Lord from cutting down his wife who herself was mere moments from ending his life, and in the next moment, pure, unadulterated rage took Lorn to a new depth as he sought to beat Her down into the ground for what she did to the love of his life.

VRRSHK!

Yellow lights clashed in the ruined courtyard as Her tried to summon a defense against the Shattered Sword's assault. But it was for nothing. There was no man, no woman, no deity who could stop Reingard as he battered the Dark Lord down. This was his moment now. Victory, that had been so tangible, and felt so inevitable just seconds ago, was eroded into the reality of the moment. The sudden attack and rage overwhelmed Her who was powerless against such an assault. In a disarming manoeuvre Lorn's Lightsaber was flung out of her grip.

Then was on the Sith before his weapon even touched the ground.

SMACK!

White, searing hot light overwhelmed Her's senses as Lorn beat her senseless. In a moment of desperation Her tried to raise a hand so that she could drive the Shattered Sword off her with the Force but she could not move in the stasis field, and as Reingard's last punch smashed her jaw, Her fell limp on the ground where she was left to seemingly bleed from every orifice on the face after Reingard knocked her out cold.

There would be no clever deceptions this time. No cunning resurrection in the heat of the moment. As dusk begun to break out over the courtyard, as night started to pass into Nabooian day, a Jedi Grandmaster and a Dark Lord of the Sith laid either side of the Shattered Sword, of the Vanguard, and of a man torn between duty to his Republic and the seminal life that he used to share with a woman who he still so desperately loved.

---

 

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Naboo - Shiraya's Sanctuary

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

Rage detonated through the Force, almost hitting Ace as if he'd been at ground zero of an explosion. He froze for the briefest instant, head snapping toward the source. It was Lorn's, and it was unlike anything he'd ever felt from his brother. He'd felt Lorn disappointed, that was probably the closest thing he ever sensed when it came to negative emotions from Lorn.

It never came close to this.

Through the settling dust, the picture finally came together. Ala lay motionless at Lorn's feet, though through the Force Ace could still feel the faint spark of life within her. Then his eyes found Lorn. Colette had been hurled aside and Her was trapped beneath the Temple Guards' stasis field while Lorn descended upon the Sith in a fury that bordered on unrecognizable.

Ace stood rooted for a moment. Lorn was getting dangerously close to the line. Ace had ignored the warning signs before because he trusted Lorn. More than he'd trusted himself. Even after everything he'd done, Lorn had still reached back for him. Offered him guidance. Believed in him when he hadn't deserved it.

Maybe he deserved to rot for what he'd done, but the least he could do was try to make something right. Maybe with Lorn's guidance... maybe. Finally, his eyes opened. "I trust you."

The memory surfaced as clearly as the day he'd spoken the words. But trust had never meant believing someone was incapable of failing. Lorn wasn't infallible. Neither of them were.

If Ace had remembered that sooner and trusted his own judgment instead of blindly following, perhaps none of this would've happened. As the Temple Guards locked Her in place and Lorn's fist crashed into the Sith's jaw again, Ace moved. He closed the distance without hesitation, stepping between them before another blow could fall. His bare right hand caught Lorn's wrist firmly.

"Lorn." His voice was calm, but carried unmistakable authority. "Get it together." Dark eyes met his friend's. "You're not thinking straight. Take it from me... this isn't something you want to feed."

His gaze flickered briefly toward Ala.

"I'm sorry this happened." His voice softened. "But search your feelings... she's alive."

Only then did Ace look down at the unconscious Sith lying at their feet.

"You said it yourself. We have a mission to complete." He let out a slow breath, eyes returning to Lorn. "We're here now. We've come this far. We have her."

He glanced again toward Her.

"We'll figure out what comes next... later."

With a gesture of his left hand, the discarded Force collar skidded across the broken stone into his grasp. Kneeling, Ace secured it firmly back around Her's neck before lifting the unconscious Sith over his shoulder in one practiced motion.

He looked back to Lorn. "Lead the way."

The words weren't a request. They were a reminder that there was still a mission to finish. His mission.

Ace then turned over to Colette: "Don't follow us. It's done." His eyes flicked over to Ala one last time "She needs you more."

Lorn Reingard | Her | Colette | Ala Quin​

 

[Colette]

Her / Lorn Reingard / Ala Quin / Acier Moonbound

The dust swirled around her. The ground skidded beneath her waist and arm as the burn of torn skin and open wounds tore against her side. One moment she had been airborne, the next she was a good dozen feet away. Colette whipped her head up only to find herself several feet away from her target.

Lorn had done this.

By the time that she was back on her feet he was already engaging 'Her' in a fight. Given the torrent of emotions there was no point in even approaching Lorn right now. The man was out of his mind fully by now. A victim to his own emotions.

Colette focused on Ala instead. She ran up to the grandmaster's limp body and quickly put two fingers to the side of her neck. There was still a pulse. She proceeded to trace a finger through the air along the path of the cut on the woman's back and bit back the anger. Not at Her, not at Lorn, or even Ace, but at this whole situation.

This was why the old Jedi Order had forbidden attachments. Had any other person been here, had Lorn and Ala managed to keep their love in their heads instead of their goddamned pants this wouldn't have been an issue. Instead they had an Order eating its own tail, forced to act like mediators between two spurned lovers.

The sound of fighting stopped, but so had Colette's mind. The anger in her chest was rising and she did her best to keep the swelling at bay. Deep breaths in, and deep breaths out.

It wasn't until Acier addressed her that Colette finally snapped out of it.

"I don't need to follow you, Acier." Colette stood up and wiped her cheek of blood that she promptly smeared on her white robes. She already knew where they were going, and luckily for them Colette doubted anyone else on the Council did.

Her attention wandered back to Ala. At this point it was becoming standard that whenever something big happened, one or both of them ended up unconscious. She let out a disappointed sigh and gently raised the woman up to be carried off to the medbay.

Just like she had last time.

 

[Lorn Reingard]

Tags: Acier Moonbound | Her | Ala Quin | Colette​

Adrenaline thundered through Lorn's veins, every fiber of his being screaming for blood as Acier stepped in to catch his wrist. The grip was firm, stopping him just before another blow could pulverize the Sith's jaw. Acier's calm words pierced the violent haze in his mind, urging him to pull back from the abyss. Reaching out through the Force, Lorn focused past the blinding rage and felt the steady rhythm of Ala's heart. She was alive. A shuddering breath escaped his chest, the suffocating fury instantly draining out of him to leave behind a hollow, agonizing exhaustion.

Relinquishing his hold on the broken Sith, Lorn stepped back as Acier secured the anti-Force collar and hauled her over his shoulder. High above the courtyard, the transport descended, its thrusters kicking up a dust storm as it touched down on the cracked marble. The half-dozen Temple Guards who had shattered the turrets filed up the ramp in a disciplined formation.

Searing pain from the open saber wound on Lorn's thigh, each step a agonizing grind as he limped past Colette kneeling over Ala's unconscious body. The quartermaster's eyes burned with silent fury, but Lorn didn't look away. Stopping beside them for a fraction of a second, his shadow fell over the woman he loved, her face pale against the dirt. The urge to drop to his knees and touch her face nearly tore him apart, but he forced his gaze upward.

"Stay away. Protect your Order," Lorn said softly.

Turning his back on the life he had known, Lorn climbed the gunship's ramp alongside Acier. The heavy blast doors hissed shut, sealing away the courtyard, the blood, and the echoes of a broken past. Thundering thrusters roared to life, lifting the transport into the darkening Nabooian sky as they vanished into the clouds, bound for D'Qar.

 

[Her]

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Tags: Lorn Reingard | Ala Quin | Colette | Acier Moonbound

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Stems of blood curled along the edifice of a traitor bound to a being immersed into a tapestry of deceit and condemnation. Lines of red rolled over the esoteric markings which had been etched into the skin, by the throat, to peel away from that certain supple ivory taint and spilled onto the previously sterile, clean floor of a gunship marked on course for D'Qar. Faint, gurgled breaths pierced the tight, confined space of the ship as Lorn and Moonbound made way for their new home among the Vanguard.

Both men were enamoured by certain choices and subsequently scarred for life by this terrible night in Shiraya's Sanctuary.

Just like Ala.

Like Colette.

But not like Her.

Choices. They all come around eventually.

[ " THE LEAST OF THESE MONSTERS " ]

~​

"Interesting to finally put a name to the face. But tell me, Ella Nova, how many other names do you go by? How many other titles?"

"Which were you curious the most about?"

"I am sure you are smart enough to figure out which one concerns me the most."

"You must do what you must... Remember back to your early teachings. All who gain power are afraid to lose it. Even the Jedi."

"You speak like a Sith. Manager."

"It is in your best interest to comply..."

"... Lorn. You sure you really want to do this?"

"Do you have another way through the Blackwall? This one knows, and your friend has our location. There is no other choice."

"...It is on Haruun Kal that they are kept, buoyed above the toxic cloudsea in their floating prison..."

"I hope she's worth it, Lorn."

"You see the problem is, dear, that I simply do not believe you. I have felt an evasiveness about you since the moment you walked into the Sanctuary. Why?"

"A true master never reveals him, or herself."

"You know I have to do this..."

"You don't have to do this... You could just trust me."

"Did you come to the Sanctuary to confront the Grandmaster?"

"I will not fight you, Ala... You'll have to strike me down."

"Why are you doing this?"

"Making things right..."

"I will always love you, Lorn."

"Do what you must."

"...The Jedi will be freed and their trust in you will begin to grow..."

"What is your name? And who are you really?"

"Have you ever heard of the tragedy of Darth Ayra the Afflicted?"

"Tell me..."

"Before she died, Ayra passed on everything that she knew onto her apprentice..."

"Two there should be; no more, no less. One to embody the power, the other to crave it."

~
​

Streaks of starlight passed overhead via the transparisteel canopy that hung by the ceiling. Laying in the dark, confined once again, a Sith Lord laid prone, and wanting. They carried with them a great suffering, lamenting somewhere beyond the anomaly of the Blackwall...

​

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