Private The Wait

[Lorn Reingard]

Tags: Acier Moonbound​

Maslovar never slept. Traffic climbed the sides of buildings as easily as it crossed streets, speeders threading neon canyons while rain slicked the metal down to a dull shine. Lorn sat near the back of a narrow café wedged between a pawn broker and a shuttered transit office, the kind of place that survived on bad caf and worse decisions. The windows were fogged with steam and grime. No one looked twice at him. That was the point.

He wore the look of another worn traveler passing through Sith space. Stubble, cheap coat, a faint slump to his shoulders. In the Force, he folded himself inward until he was little more than a quiet ache, easy to miss, easier to ignore. It took effort. It always did. He had learned how to disappear a long time ago.

The caf in front of him had gone cold. He hadn't touched it. His attention stayed fixed on the door, on the reflections in the glass, on the slow rhythm of the crowd outside. Waiting had become familiar. It gave his mind too much room, but it was safer than moving blind.

Dathomir lingered in him. He hadn't heard from Acier since then. Lorn had told the kid he'd be there, no conditions, no pressure. Space to heal mattered. Silence could be healthy. He told himself that, even as days turned into weeks.

Then the message came. Encrypted, careful, sent from nowhere he recognized. Sith space. That alone narrowed the list down to one reckless name. Bastilla and Isla were safe at home. That left Acier, stubborn enough to wander this far and proud enough to pretend he was fine.

Lorn rubbed his thumb against the rim of the cup, grounding himself. If this was a trap, it was a clean one. He had followed the coordinates anyway. Loyalty had a way of pulling him forward, even when he knew better.

The door slid open. A gust of rain and city noise cut through the café. Lorn felt the shift before he saw anything, a faint disturbance brushing the edge of his awareness. His posture didn't change. He stayed still, patient, present.

Whatever had called him here, he was ready to meet it.

 

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Desevro - Maslovar

Equipment:
Acolyte Robes| Lightsaber | Cybernetic Arm

Ace entered the café like someone who already knew where the exits were. He let the rain cling to his cloak. Let it sell the story. Another drifter pulled inward by the Academy's gravity, another aspirant passing through the lower districts where no one asked questions unless they were paid to.

In the Force, he compressed himself down to something unremarkable. Not absent. Never absent. Just… folded.

He didn't feel Lorn as he approached. Good. Less eyes, less risk on them. Ace crossed the café and took the seat opposite him without ceremony. He didn't greet him, every unnecessary word was a risk here, not because someone was listening... but because someone might start.

For a few seconds, he said nothing. He was deep enough with the Covenant now that silence didn't invite questions. On Desevro, quiet was competence. Sith here didn't normally ask why you kept to yourself, they just assumed you were honing something sharp enough to be worth something.

Everyone here believed themselves the axis of the world. Power first. Ego second. Everything else disposable. For Ace, that arrogance was cover.

His face was more worn than the last time Lorn had seen him. Not sick. Not hollow. Just… tightened. Eyes too alert, posture too measured, living to think a second ahead of the room at all times.

"Sorry to call you all the way out here. Desevro isn't watched like other Sith worlds." He said, careful. "People here assume everyone's chasing something. Keeps them focused on themselves... and not on us."

He let that hang, studying Lorn's reaction rather than filling the silence.

"I needed somewhere noisy enough that no one listens too closely." Ace added. "And dangerous enough that coincidence feels believable."

The city's hum pressed in around them. Industry, power, ambition layered thick enough to taste in the Force. Ace didn't flinch from it. That alone said more than he meant to.

"You been alright since Dathomir?" He asked, not to make small talk, but because before anything else - Lorn was still his friend.

Lorn Reingard ​

 

[Lorn Reingard]

Tags: Acier Moonbound​

Lorn did not look up right away. He waited until the noise settled, until the café found its rhythm again. Only then did his eyes lift, steady and sharp, taking Ace in without staring. He exhaled through his nose and finally turned the cup once with his fingers, as if the motion anchored him. "I'm fine," he said quietly, already cutting off the question before it could turn into something else. "Dathomir didn't leave anything that wasn't already there."

His gaze stayed on Ace now. Concern pulled at him, held in check by habit. He kept his voice low. "You don't call someone across half the galaxy because a place is convenient. You do it because you're cornered or because you're running."

He leaned back slightly, just enough to see the door and the windows without shifting his chair. "So tell me which one it is. What kind of trouble puts you this deep in Sith space, sitting across from me like this is a reasonable choice."

The hum of the city pressed against his awareness. He ignored it. His focus stayed tight, controlled. "You're right about Desevro. It's loud. It's greedy. People here are too busy sharpening knives to notice who's bleeding. That doesn't make it safe. It makes it careless."

His jaw set. "And I don't like you playing games out here. You don't belong in places where the dark is treated like currency." He paused, choosing the words instead of letting them spill. "Every time you step closer to that, it leaves a mark. Whether you want it to or not."

He leaned forward now, forearms resting on the table. "So start talking. Who are you mixed up with, and what do they think you owe them?"

 

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Desevro - Maslovar

Equipment:
Acolyte Robes| Lightsaber | Cybernetic Arm

"Straight to business then." He said as a humorless breath escaped him. "I respect it."

He let the city's hum bleed through the silence for a moment longer than necessary. Then he reached up and nudged his hood back just enough that the café's light caught his eyes properly.

"I'm not running." He clarified. "Not cornered either."

He rested his hands on the table, interlacing his fingers together and lowering his gaze, focus narrowing.

"You were on Genarius, right?" He wasn't sure, it was a mess that day but Ace assumed so. "I was, and... something was off about that attack. Y'know, in the Force."

Ace's hands separated slightly, giving just enough space for him to gently tap at the table. Quiet and rhythmic.

"I can't explain it but..." He trailed off, organizing his thoughts "A few months ago, there was an attack on a Jedi Enclave on Kattada. I was there too. Genarius felt like that. Like... it carried the same frequency in the Force."

His tapping stopped, and he finally lifted his gaze and settled his dark eyes on the man in front of him. Ace's expression was flat, unreadable.

"Anyway, before Edic Bar fell. I decided to follow my hunch, so I left with them. The Sith Covenant. Pretended to pledge my allegiance so I can gather more intel on them."

A quirk of a grin twitched on his lips.

"Been here a few weeks now and I've already learned so much. Their Academy is here. Desevro is where they train Acolytes, and my hunch? I was right. Kattada was where the Covenant was born, Lorn. But..." His expression returned to its previous calm. "I don't know why they went for Edic Bar... yet."

Ace shook his head, raising his palm as he quickly realized he was getting carried away. Drifting away from this meeting's purpose.

"I called you here because I want you in on this. To be one of my contacts on the outside."

Lorn Reingard ​

 

[Lorn Reingard]

Tags: Acier Moonbound​

Lorn groaned under his breath and scrubbed a hand over his face before letting it fall back to the table. "I'm straight to the point because I don't want to be here any longer than I have to," he said quietly. "Eyes and ears are everywhere. Places like this train people to notice the wrong kind of silence. People like us."

He listened without interrupting, even when his brow tightened at the names. Genarius. Kattada. The pattern settled into place as Ace spoke, and when it did, Lorn's expression shifted from concern to something closer to disbelief.

"You followed a hunch," he said, slow and careful. "Into the heart of a Sith academy."

He leaned back, chair creaking softly. "That isn't courage. That's infiltration. Espionage. That's Shadow work." His eyes held Ace now, steady and unblinking. "And you are not trained for it. Not the way they are. Not the way this requires."

Lorn shook his head once. "No Council. No order. No one watching your back if this goes wrong. Just me? As your outside contact?" His voice stayed even, but the tension sat just beneath it. "You didn't just put yourself in danger. You walked into a system built to break people and turn what's left into weapons."

He leaned forward again, lowering his voice further. "So tell me why. Why you thought this was yours to carry." His jaw tightened. "You're not even part of the Jedi Order. No one asked this of you. No one sanctioned it."

The city pressed against his awareness again, sharp and crowded. He ignored it. "You say the Covenant ties back to Kattada. Fine. That matters. But matters to who?" He tapped the table once, restrained. "What purpose do you serve embedded in them that justifies this risk?"

His gaze softened despite himself. "Because what you're doing will cost you. They don't just test loyalty. They erode it. Slowly. Quietly."

 

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Desevro - Maslovar

Equipment:
Acolyte Robes| Lightsaber | Cybernetic Arm

Ace listened intently, dark eyes watching and studying Lorn's expressions closely. He didn't interrupt. Didn't deflect. Didn't smile it off. Each word landed and stayed there. By the time Lorn finished, Ace's hands had gone still on the table.​

​

"You're right." Ace said quietly. "About most of it."​

​

His gaze shifted, meeting Lorn's without challenge.​

​

"I'm not trained for Shadow work. And no... no Council, no Order, the less that know the better. But I'm not totally alone. I have... another contact. A friend, and a figure in the Republic."​

​

He leaned back slightly, enough to breathe, not enough to retreat.​

​

"I'm doing this because who else will?" His jaw tightened. "Coruscant. Kattada. Atrisia. Genarius. Aren't you tired of reacting all the time? I am. The Covenant's still early days, why not snuff it out before it becomes another problem?"​

​

He shook his head once, slow. With a deep exhale, Ace turned away and scanned the dingy café.​

​

"I'm not embedded because I think I'm special." Ace said. "I'm embedded because I'm not. I'm expendable. If I'm discovered and killed? No loss on your part."​

​

This wasn't martyrdom or a sense of low self-worth, it was logic.​

​

"The information I can gather, what I can give? It can prevent something like Edic Bar again. Give you the upper hand, y'know?"​

​

Ace continued leaning against his seat, folding his arms, and returning his attention back to Lorn.​

​

"And yeah." Ace went on. "I know it'll cost me. What doesn't in this galaxy? The cost isn't gonna disappear if I walk away. Just becomes someone else's problem... or multiple."​

​

Silence stretched between them again, heavier this time. Ace pinched the bridge of his nose, then rubbed his forehead softly.​

​

"Look, If you don't want to be involved in this." Ace said finally. "I'll understand."​

​

Lorn Reingard​

 

[Lorn Reingard]

Tags: Acier Moonbound​

Lorn was quiet for a long moment, eyes lowering to the table as Ace spoke. He let the words settle instead of pushing back right away. When he finally looked up again, his expression was steadier, though no less serious.

"Who in the Republic knows about this," he asked quietly. "That contact you mentioned. Are they acting with authority, or is this just someone keeping secrets and hoping it works out?" His gaze stayed on Ace. "Because if this isn't sanctioned, then you're not just exposed. You're invisible. And invisible people don't get extracted."

He drew a slow breath and eased back in his chair, shoulders loosening a fraction. The edge in his voice softened, though it did not disappear. "I hear what you're saying. I do. You want to get ahead of it. Stop something before it turns into another name carved into a report." His mouth tightened. "I've wanted that too. Most of my life."

Lorn shook his head once. "But there's always a next problem. Always another group that figures out how to dress cruelty up as purpose. You can cut one out and another grows in its place. That doesn't mean you do nothing. It means you choose your battles carefully. You don't walk into the fire just because no one told you not to."

He leaned forward again, voice lower now, more personal. "And don't say your death wouldn't matter." His eyes held Ace's, unblinking. "If you're lost, it won't be nothing. I'll feel it. I'll carry it. And I'll know I could have stopped it." His jaw tightened. "That's not a hypothetical."

Silence pressed in, thick with the city's distant noise. Lorn let it sit, then exhaled.

"I don't agree with how you went about this," he said. "And I don't like you being here But I'm not going to let you do it alone."

He settled back, folding his hands together. "So if I'm in this, we do it smart. No heroics. No gambling with your life because you think you're expendable." His eyes sharpened again. "Tell me the plan. What do they know, what do you have access to, and how do we make sure you walk out of this alive."

 

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Desevro - Maslovar

Equipment:
Acolyte Robes| Lightsaber | Cybernetic Arm

Ace shifted his hands on the table first, fingers loosening, then settling again as if he were aligning himself with the weight of the decision rather than the words.

"It's Sibylla Abrantes." He said at last, voice low. "Naboo's Queen. Temporary, at least."

There was no flourish or emphasis. Just the name, offered plainly.

"I trust her with my life." Ace added. "She's capable. Careful. And she understands what's at stake better than most people with titles ever do."

His gaze lifted briefly, meeting Lorn's.

"I think the two of you should be in contact." He continued. "Directly. No filters through me unless they need to be." A faint edge entered his voice, pragmatism. "If something happens to me, this doesn't die with me."

Internally, the logic lined up nicely. A politician and a Jedi. Different tools, different levers, same umbrella. Where one could stall, the other could act. Where diplomacy slowed, faith moved. Intelligence didn't need a single response, it needed options, in fact. Ace let that thought sit, then went quiet as Lorn spoke again.

When Lorn talked about caring... about loss not being nothing, Ace's gaze dropped to the table, chin lowering just enough to break eye contact. Letting people in, trusting and caring for people was easier now. Much easier than when he left Bonadan. But knowing people actually cared about him? It was a hard concept to grasp. Even now.

Caring was a double-edged thing. It meant you weren't alone. It also meant your choices rippled outward now, dragging other people into the wake whether you wanted them there or not. It was easier when the consequences were abstract. Harder when they had names. Faces.

He stayed still until Lorn finished. When Lorn finally agreed, reluctantly, conditionally, Ace lifted his head again. There was no visible relief. Just a subtle recalibration, like something in him had locked into place.

"Thank you." He said simply.

Then he exhaled slowly, and leaned forward.

"Right now, the plan's patience." Ace said. "Earning trust. Letting them think I'm exactly what they want me to be. I'm not high enough for anything sensitive yet. And they don't trust me... not really. But they're watching. Measuring."

He paused, choosing his next words carefully.

"I thought they were anarchic at first." Ace admitted. "Loose with hierarchy. Just ego and hunger held together by shared hatred of the Jedi and institution." His eyes narrowed slightly, thoughtful. "That's not what I'm seeing anymore."

He recalled his run with Lysander. On Thrantin.

"They're brutal." He continued. "But they're not stupid. Every raid's strategic. Political, cultural, symbolic." His voice stayed even. "Strategic barbarism is still strategy is what I'm saying."

He leaned back again, folding his arms loosely.

"I don't know enough yet." Ace said. "But I am learning. This isn't chaos. It's early-stage coordination. And if that's true…"

He trailed off, letting the implications speak for itself. Ace's gaze then returned to Lorn, steady.

"I'm still figuring out who actually runs what." He admitted. "But there are names that keep coming up." He continued. "People others defer to without being told to." His gaze sharpened slightly, analytical. "Arris Windrun and Mercy. Just Mercy."

He let the names sit between them, watching Lorn closely.

"I don't know how they slot together yet and I don't know if there's more, but..." Ace said. "If any of those names mean something to you." He added, quieter. "Let me know."

Lorn Reingard​

 

[Lorn Reingard]

Tags: Acier Moonbound​

Lorn's eyes widened before he could stop them. He leaned forward fast enough that his chair scraped the floor, then caught himself and lowered his voice to a harsh whisper. "Sibylla Abrantes?" He stared at Ace like he'd misheard. "You could've at least picked an adult to carry this with you. Someone with scars and experience. Someone who could pull you out if this goes sideways." His jaw clenched. "Not a spoiled child wearing a crown and learning politics on the fly."

He dragged a hand down his face and let out a slow breath through his nose. The reaction burned off, leaving behind something heavier. "Yes. We should meet. If she's involved, then this is already bigger than either of us." He looked back at Ace. "But that also means the margin for error just vanished."

As Ace laid out what he'd learned, Lorn listened, his focus narrowing again. The Covenant was not noise. Not chaos. That alone unsettled him. He had seen what happened when brutality learned restraint.

"Mercy," he said softly, testing the name. It stirred something old and unpleasant. "I've heard it. Kaggath competitor, if memory serves. Won it. Walked away richer than sense or reason." His brow furrowed. "That kind of wealth buys loyalty, silence, infrastructure. That could be your spine right there."

Arris Windrun made him pause. He frowned, searching through half-remembered reports. "That name's familiar. I can't place it yet." He shook his head once. "Genarius files, maybe. I'll need to go back through them."

He sat back, folding his arms, eyes never leaving Ace. "You're right about one thing. This isn't random. That makes it worse. And it means patience matters."

Lorn leaned forward again, voice firm but measured. "So here's what we do next. You don't push. You don't chase names. You let them surface on their own." His gaze hardened. "I'll start pulling records. Financials, movement patterns, anything tied to Mercy and Windrun. Quietly."

He softened, just a little. "Your job is to stay alive and stay unremarkable. You help by watching, by listening, by not proving yourself." He met Ace's eyes. "Tell me how you plan to identify this order without burning yourself. Because I won't lose you to impatience."

 

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Desevro - Maslovar

Equipment:
Acolyte Robes| Lightsaber | Cybernetic Arm

Ace didn't move when Lorn snapped about Sibylla, but something in him went still. When he spoke, his voice stayed low, controlled... and unmistakably edged.

"Don't do that." Ace said. Not loud. Not sharp. Just firm enough to stop the air from moving. "She's not a spoiled child. And she's not playing at this."

His eyes stayed on Lorn now, steady, unblinking.

"She's been carrying a crown in the middle of a war and learning faster than most people twice her age ever had to."

His eyes slipped off Lorn briefly, tracking nothing in particular. When he looked back, it was with a steadier focus, as though something had clicked into place.

"Don't think my decision was emotional." Ace clarified. "Like everything I've been doing since Genarius, it was logical. Calculated. Me trusting Sibylla was just the confirmation. Same as with you."

He let his words sit before Lorn moved on to other matters, talking about Mercy, credits, strategy, structure. Ace listened intently, nodding along to every few words, all the way up until the Knight laid out the next steps.

"Staying unremarkable... might be a little difficult." He confessed.

It wasn't ego. Just fact. He'd already impressed the other Acolytes with his combat prowess. Had proven himself to Arris and fell into position as her possible unofficial hitman. Then there was that Dark Side Elite he'd killed on Chandrila. It was already too late to close that door.

With a sigh, Ace leaned forward slightly, forearms resting on the table.

"But... no hunting. No pushing for leads." Ace said, agreeing with and acknowledging Lorn's other points. "I'll let it come to me."

Ace then moved on to answer Lorn's question regarding his plans.

"I watch who people defer to without being told. I'll pay attention to logistics. Movement."

He exhaled shallowly, glancing toward the door and then back to Lorn.

"You pull what you can. I'll keep listening. And if anything shifts, you and Sibylla'll be the first to know." He paused. "Which reminds me. She probably won't like this, but I'll hand you her personal comm." A small smirk tugged. "Then you can see for yourself if she's really a spoiled child."

Lorn Reingard ​

 

[Lorn Reingard]

Tags: Acier Moonbound​

Lorn's eyebrows lifted at the snapback, more surprised than offended. He held Ace's gaze for a beat, measuring him. Experience had taught him plenty about nobles, about crowns cracking under pressure, about how quickly privilege folded when blood hit the floor. But he also saw something else here. Resolve. Familiar, stubborn resolve.

He said nothing. Just exhaled slowly through his nose.

When Ace offered the comm, Lorn took it without ceremony, turning it once in his hand before tucking it into his coat. "Hmph," he muttered, the corner of his mouth twitching despite himself. It came out like an old man's grunt, rough and tired. He did not argue the point further. Ace had made up his mind, and pushing now would only harden it.

Silence settled between them again. Lorn leaned back, scanning the café out of habit, then returned his attention to the kid across from him. The concern crept back in, quieter but heavier.

"Do you have a hard out," he asked. "An actual one." His voice stayed low. "Not a hope or a gut feeling. A line you won't cross."

He folded his hands together, thumbs pressing tight. "Because staying unremarkable sounds like it's already off the table. You've been seen. You've been measured. That means they're deciding what to use you for." His eyes narrowed slightly. "And people like that don't let go easily."

Lorn leaned forward, elbows on the table. "So tell me how this ends. Not the victory. Your exit." He paused. "When do you decide enough is enough, and how do you leave without them realizing they've lost something?"

He studied Ace's face, the tension there, the control. Too much for someone his age. "I need to know you've thought about that part. Because patience without an exit plan turns into a grave."

 

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Desevro - Maslovar

Equipment:
Acolyte Robes| Lightsaber | Cybernetic Arm

Ace didn't answer right away. This time, it wasn't calculation that held him, it was the absence of something to offer. He looked away, jaw tightening slightly as his gaze drifted to the rain-streaked window. Not avoiding Lorn. Just… buying himself a second to be honest. When he looked back, his expression had settled into something quieter.

"I don't..." Ace said. "Have an exit."

He let the words sit there, bare.

"I didn't come in with a clean way out." He continued. "Didn't think that far ahead." He paused again

Yeah, he already knew Lorn wasn't going to react well to that. Understandably so. Most of the time, plans always ended up blowing up in your face. What really mattered was being able to adapt and improvise when you needed to.

"I've spent my life preparing for when plans fail." Ace said. "Because they normally do. For me, anyway."

His eyes stayed on Lorn now, his words about being measured hadn't missed. Ace nodded once, leaning forward slightly, forearms resting on the table.

"I don't have a moment where I walk away clean." Ace admitted. "But I've got thresholds. When I stop adapting and start justifying. When I stop checking myself because it's easier not to. When I don't feel the weight anymore."

His jaw tightened.

"That's when I know I've stayed too long." He sat back again, quieter now. "I know that's not reassuring. I know you want something firmer than 'I'll feel it when it breaks.' But that's the truth."

Then, his tone softened. It wasn't apologetic, just real:

"I've never survived by knowing how things end. I survive by knowing when to move."

He didn't pretend that was enough, he just let it be what it was. It's all he could do.

Lorn Reingard​

 

[Lorn Reingard]

Tags: Acier Moonbound​

Lorn closed his eyes and sighed, long and slow. It was the sound of a man who had seen this before and knew how it usually ended. Youth would be young. Reckless. Certain that instinct would be enough. He leaned back in his chair and rubbed at the bridge of his nose.

"Trial by fire then," he muttered.

He looked back at Ace, studying him with a mix of frustration and reluctant acceptance. "I don't like it," he said. "But I won't pretend I didn't hear worse plans from people twice your age." A dry shrug. "Can't be worse than Dathomir, right?"

The joke landed poorly, and Lorn knew it as soon as he said it. He let it sit anyway.

His tone shifted, firmer now. "Here's how we make this survivable." He leaned forward, forearms on the table. "I want regular comms. Scheduled. Short. Boring. You tell me you're alive, you tell me nothing else unless it's urgent."

He held Ace's gaze. "If you miss one, I move. No waiting. No benefit of the doubt. I don't care how close you think you are or how much you still want to learn." His jaw tightened. "The moment you go quiet when you shouldn't, I start pulling threads and breaking things."

Lorn straightened, shoulders squaring. "That might burn your position. It might blow this whole operation wide open." He paused. "But it will keep you breathing."

He softened again, just a little. "You trust your instincts. Fine. I trust patterns. And silence is a bad one."

The city noise pressed in around them, constant and uncaring. Lorn stood, adjusting his coat. "You don't have an exit yet. That means I'm part of it now." He glanced back at Ace. "Don't make me come find you. I won't be gentle about it."

 

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Desevro - Maslovar

Equipment:
Acolyte Robes| Lightsaber | Cybernetic Arm

The sigh, the muttered trial by fire, the bad joke about Dathomir, Ace took it all in without comment. When Lorn laid out the rules, he listened with his full attention.

"Alright." He said when Lorn had concluded, nodding once. "Scheduled comms. Short. Boring. Alive. That's fair. It works. 'S manageable."

When Lorn talked about moving if the signal went dark, Ace's gaze lowered. He understood the escalation. A small, faint smirk tugged, a reminder as to why he liked the Jedi. He took action. Lorn was definitely the right Jedi to bring into this operation.

"I won't miss one." Ace said. "And if I do, you do exactly what you said."

As Lorn stood and adjusted his coat, Ace leaned back slightly, folding his arms. He looked away, eyes tracking the café again, then back.

"I don't love the idea of you breaking things on my behalf." Ace admitted. "And I don't love knowing someone's counting the seconds if I don't show up. But I won't pretend that doesn't help."

Ace met his eyes again, steady, then stood as well, pulling his cloak into place.

"See you on the comms." Ace added. "Boring. On schedule."

He didn't smile, but there was something grounded there now. Something anchored. And for better or worse, two people watching his back now.

Lorn Reingard​

 

[Lorn Reingard]

Tags: Acier Moonbound​

"Good," Lorn said. "Because I mean it." His voice was calm, settled into something final. "Boring keeps you alive."

He turned toward the door, then stopped again. Old habits. Last checks. He glanced back over his shoulder. "And don't get clever about it. If something feels off, you say so. You don't try to manage it alone. That's how people disappear."

The café felt smaller all at once. Too many reflections. Too many listening points. Lorn shifted his presence inward again, folding himself down until the Force barely noticed him. It took effort, but it always did.

"At some point," he added, quieter now, "you're going to think you've got this under control. That's the dangerous part. Remember today when that happens."

He stepped toward the door, the city's noise bleeding back in through the seams. Outside, rain slicked the street and neon bled across the pavement. Maslovar swallowed him quickly, just another shape moving with purpose. As he disappeared into the crowd, Lorn felt the familiar weight settle back onto his shoulders.

Another fire. Another watch.

He adjusted his coat and kept walking, already counting the hours until the first check-in.

 

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Desevro - Maslovar

Equipment:
Acolyte Robes| Lightsaber | Cybernetic Arm

He watched Lorn disappear into the rain-slicked street. One second a presence. The next, just movement folded back into noise. Purpose dissolved into anonymity.

Boring keeps you alive.

The words lingered longer than they should have. Ace's gaze drifted to the table, to the faint ring left behind by Lorn's cup. Proof that the conversation had happened. Proof that someone else had sat across from him and seen the shape of what he was doing... and stayed anyway.

He leaned back in his chair and let the café fill in around him again. Two people knew now. Sibylla, with her crown, her precarious authority, able to stall things, redirect attention, or open doors that would otherwise stay shut if the timing was right. Not power in the absolute sense, but leverage.

Then there was Lorn: the Sword of Shiraya, with his patterns, his patience, his willingness to act the moment silence meant something had gone wrong.

Different tools, different thresholds, but the same risk. Ace exhaled slowly through his nose. It made things safer, and also heavier. He couldn't pretend this was his weight alone anymore. Every decision he made from here on out would ripple outward, pulling other people with it. People who would worry if he went quiet. People who would move if he did.

No more vanishing cleanly. That thought sat uneasy in his chest. Not because he wanted to be alone, but because being seen meant accountability. It meant that when he crossed a line, someone else would feel it too.

Lorn's other warning surfaced, quieter but sharper.

You're going to think you've got this under control.

Control had always been the lie. He'd survived by reacting faster than the collapse around him, by knowing when to move before the floor gave out. That instinct had kept him alive longer than anyone had a right to expect. The Covenant would test that. Stretch it. Dull it... and one day, if Lorn was right, Ace might mistake momentum for mastery.

He stayed still a moment longer, then stood. As he headed for the door, the comm at his side felt heavier than it had before. Not like a leash, more like a tether.

Outside, the rain caught him immediately. Ace stepped into the flow, another shape moving with purpose. And with that, the café faded behind him. The conversation was done and the watch had begun.

-END-​

Lorn Reingard​