Private Through Ash and Smoke

[Lily Rhodes]

Lily lifted her eyes from where the lightsaber had fallen as Acier stepped into her line of sight. Steady, assessing the scene in front of him, it was the same lethal calm that he'd dispatched the stormtroopers with. Realisation settled on her then. This was normal for him, the fighting, the killing.

She swallowed, unable to answer his question. Was she okay? His eyes drifted to the body but hers remained on him trying to find a way to settle into calm, but it didn't come.

You did good.

A bitter laugh left her. "Gee, thanks, I always wanted to be praised for murder." She tipped her head back against the wall looking up and blinking hard against tears. She hated it, she hated this place. Even without the sith or imperials looming over it, Coruscant had a way of pulling the worst out of her, because survival demanded it.

"None of this is good, Acier." She said softly, looking at him as she pushed off the wall, wiping her eyes as she moved past him, picking her way around the body, careful not to look down at it. "I should never have come back here."

Acier Moonbound

 

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Coruscant

Equipment:
Acolyte Robes | Lightsaber | Cybernetic Arm

Ace didn't react to the bitter laugh. His face stayed exactly as it had been: still, unreadable, and not betraying whatever thoughts moved behind his eyes.

"It was self defence." He said, correcting her. "It was you or him. You did what you had to do."

His gaze lingered on her as she fought the tears back. He noticed it, the way she blinked hard, the tension in her jaw, the effort it took just to keep standing there. He wondered if this had been the first time.

The thought stirred older memories. One he hadn't visited in a long time. Tessk. Ace could still remember the moment clearly; the cramped corridor on Bonadan, the heat of anger in his chest, the shock of seeing the life leave Tessk's eyes. That hadn't been self defence, it had been retribution for what the man had done to someone Ace cared about.

He remembered how it had felt afterward. The horror. The way the memory had clung to him for months like a stain he couldn't wash away. Ace had been greener then. Naive. Afraid of what that moment meant about him.

Now, standing in the alley with two bodies cooling on the stone, he almost found the memory distant. Childish. Because the truth had revealed itself eventually. Anger made him stronger. More effective. More efficient.

Lily moved past him, careful not to look down at the body. Ace remained where he was for a moment longer, silent, giving her space to pull herself back together.

"Yeah." Ace said at last, responding to her quiet regret about coming back.

His tone carried no judgment. Just acknowledgement.

"We do what we can to survive."

When he finally spoke again, his voice was calm.

"We're almost out of this."

He turned and started down the alley toward the hangar, not looking back.

Lily Rhodes​

 

[Lily Rhodes]

He allowed her quiet and space to gather herself, but Lily wasn't entirely sure that there was any gathering herself. Could she fold it behind guarded walls and deal with it later? Yes, that she could at least do. The trembling stopped. It wasn't the death that bothered her, she'd killed more than enough Tof raiding parties on Jaibrek, but that had been different, that wasn't just about survival or self defence, that was defence of others and the connection she had with the telepaths their made it seem like it was a burden shared.

But here? Here where there was nothing between her and those final fleeting thoughts, when the anger that rested in the pit of her stomach reared its ugly head and for a fleeting moment there was satisfaction in the kill?

It was too close to everything she wanted to avoid, everything she had left behind when she'd walked from the Order, from her family. The memory of a conversation with a ghost, fluttered through her mind.

I am not a Sith.

You are my heir.​

When Acier caught up with her, his words about survival pulled a sigh from her lips. "Yeah."

A hand reaching up to touch her cheek, feeling for the wound split across it. She was going to have to stitch it. "Calling it survival doesn't make it right, it just makes it easier to set aside the guilt."

She moved them into a main street, eyes scanning both ways before fully stepping out, instinct keeping her close to the streets edge as the path angled upwards taking them out of the lower levels, the hangar coming into view ahead of them, along with a throng of people. Desperate and shouting, with small scuffles breaking out along the crowds edge as people pressed forward trying to get in.

Lily stopped and let out a sigh. "What are the odds that the Covenant have shut it down?" she began to chew the inside of her cheek a combination of nerves and concentration as her eyes scanned the crowd. They weren't getting through their without a fight, and if it was shut down and there were any Covenant guarding it?

"I...have a way to get us in but..." she trailed off biting her lip, worry flickering across her face. It was supposed to be a last resort, she'd not used it since the blackwing virus had nearly killed Iskendyr and his friends. She'd pulled all of them out, and it had fucking hurt.

"Do you trust me?" she asked finally looking at him.

Acier Moonbound

 

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Coruscant

Equipment:
Acolyte Robes | Lightsaber | Cybernetic Arm

Ace's eyes tracked the movement of her hand as it rose to her cheek. The split in the skin there was easy to spot now that the adrenaline had drained from the moment. He studied it briefly, expression unchanged.

"'Least you're still alive to feel guilt." He said calmly.

He didn't argue the morality of it any further. They moved out of the alley and onto the main street. Ace let his eyes sweep both directions before stepping fully into the open, instinctively drifting toward the edge of the street where the press of people was thinner. The path angled upward as it climbed out of the lower levels, and the hangar finally came into view ahead.

Along with everyone else trying to reach it. Ace slowed slightly as he took in the scene.

When Lily wondered aloud about the Covenant shutting it down, he answered without much hesitation.

"Probably high."

His gaze lingered on the chaos for another second before shifting sideways to her when she mentioned having a way to get them in. There was a brief pause when she asked if he trusted her.

Ace didn't answer immediately, instead he watched the crowd again, measuring the choke points, the possible guards, the tension in the air. Then he looked back at her.

"I trust you want to get off-world."

Then, after a short pause:

"Why?"

Lily Rhodes​

 

[Lily Rhodes]

It was the best she was going to get and she knew it. Velok always told her she trusted too easily, that she should be more wary, but Acier had given her no reason not to. Okay, so the pain that lanced in her side with every breath was absolutely his handiwork, and there had been a moment where she'd seen him consider killing her, but the important thing was that she started it, and he didn't kill her.

There were three bodies laying in an alley that told her he wanted the absolute opposite. But he had no reason to trust her, not really.

"Just..." she sighed "This might hurt."

She stepped closer and grabbed his hand, letting go of the constraint she held tightly around the dark ball of anger the sat deep inside her. The dark side surged, wrapping tightly around them both it squeezed and the street around them was torn from sight. Pain split across her skull and screamed up her side as they shifted through the rift until her feet found ground again, the crunch of permacrete loud in her ears as the hanger bay settled into existence around them.

Emergency lighting cast a dull glow on the silhouette of the Pilgrim's Rest, the doors sealed shut above her. Lily released Acier stepping back before her knees gave out. She could taste copper on her tongue as she fought to cage the corruption, blood trickling from her nose as her hands wrapped around her middle and she doubled over with a groan of pain.

Acier Moonbound

 

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Coruscant

Equipment:
Acolyte Robes | Lightsaber | Cybernetic Arm

The world tore open. One moment Ace was standing in the chaos of the street, the next the ground vanished beneath him as the Force twisted violently around them. The air compressed, pressure slamming into his skull as space itself seemed to fold inward. For a heartbeat there was nothing but darkness and the roar of power ripping through the veil between places.

Then the hangar snapped into existence around them. Ace staggered but his balance held, barely, though the shift left a ringing pressure behind his eyes and a tightness in his chest that made breathing feel briefly unnatural. The Force around him still trembled from what she had done, like the echo of a storm passing through.

He steadied himself, drawing a slow breath as the dizziness faded. This was a Dark side trick, there was no mistaking the taste of it in the Force. Anger, pressure, raw will forcing reality to bend rather than persuading it. Ace had power. Plenty of it. But refinement? Control? Those were things he knew he still lacked. His training in the Force was crude compared to what it could become.

His eyes shifted to Lily as she stepped away, just in time to see her collapse. For a moment he simply watched her, taking in the nosebleed, the way she folded in on herself as the backlash of the technique hit. Even now she was still managing to surprise him. She was stronger than she had let on.

Ace stepped forward and extended a hand down toward her.

"Useful technique."

He meant it. Not as flattery or comfort, but simple acknowledgment. A part of him was already turning the idea over in his mind, wondering how something like that might be learned… or replicated. Then his gaze flicked briefly toward the sealed hangar doors and the dim silhouette of the Pilgrim's Rest beyond them before returning to her.

"Don't quit now." He said dryly. "Not after killing yourself to get here."

His hand remained extended, waiting for her to take it.

Lily Rhodes​

 

[Lily Rhodes]

It took her a long minute to unfold, for the agony that screamed through her to receded to a level she could manage. Her hand still shook as she reached for Acier's, pulling herself back to her feet, wiping the blood from her nose on her sleeve. "Funny." She replied flatly. She winced, her eyes closing briefly as she pressed her hand against her ribs. "Fuck." she breathed "I hate doing that."

She took a steadying breath, and opening her eyes settling them on the Pilgrim's Rest, a little relief settling in her shoulders as she moved towards it, running her hand along the hull where she could. Circling to check no one had tried to tamper with her, before popping open a panel that exposed a bio scanner, pressing her hand against it.

There was a soft beep, followed by the hiss of pistons as the landing ramp began to lower. Her eyes drifted to the hangar bay doors. "How the feth are we gonna get those open without triggering any alarms?" The heavy thud of metal settling on permacrete drew her attention back to the landing ramp and she moved to climb the landing ramp, nodding at Acier to let him know he could board.

Lily stopped at the ships galley, reaching into an overhead cabinet and pulling a medkit free and setting it on a nearby table, opening it wide. she made a habit of keeping it stocked after she'd once used half the supply sewing and tending to wounds that Velok sustained taking down a Tof raiding ship on his own. It was rare that they flew together these days but on the off chance, she made sure she had what she needed in case a Whipid size medical emergency landed in her lap. She rummaged for painkillers, pulling the cap of the injector free as she shrugged her jacket free of one arm.

The injector deployed with a soft hiss, Lily replaced the cap nodding to the bag. "Help yourself, probably do you better than that bacta spray." she tossed the spent pain relief into a canister. "I'm going to get preflights running." She moved for the cockpit. She was so close to leaving, to escaping, to leaving Coruscant behind.

Again.

She really needed to stay away this time.

Acier Moonbound

 

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Coruscant

Equipment:
Acolyte Robes | Lightsaber | Cybernetic Arm

Ace watched her push through it. He noticed everything: the tremor in her hand, her shortened breathing as she moved, and the pressure she kept against her. He didn't comment on it, she was hurt, bad enough that most would've slowed down. And yet, she kept moving.

Ace followed her up the ramp, stepping into the ship as his gaze moved instinctively, mapping the interior in quick, efficient sweeps. Entry points. Choke spaces. Lines of sight. The Pilgrim's Rest wasn't pristine, but it was maintained. She knew what they were doing kept it running.

His eyes flicked briefly to the medkit she set out. Ace didn't move toward it. His pain was there, but it was irrelevant right now. His attention shifted past her, to the sealed hangar doors looming beyond the hull.

"I can open them." He said.

His eyes tracked the door housing, then the wall-mounted control system nearby, already picking apart how it was put together.

"Once they're open, you leave. Fast."

Ace returned back toward the ramp.

"Good luck."

Ace crossed the hangar floor, angling toward the security housing beside the blast doors. He didn't slow as he reached it. just drove his prosthetic hand straight into the panel seam. The casing tore free with a metallic snap, exposing bundled wiring, junction nodes, and a compact control module buried inside.

He scanned the layout once, fast: power feeds, signal lines, redundancies. He crouched and went straight in, hands moving with practiced certainty.

The system resisted for a fraction of a second, and then the hangar doors shuddered. A deep, mechanical groan rolled through the structure as the magnetic seals disengaged unevenly. One side lagged behind the other, protesting as the system tried... and failed, to reconcile conflicting inputs.

Ace didn't stop until the hydraulics finally gave. Then, with a heavy clang, the doors began to part, grinding open just enough to let light spill through.

It wasn't perfect, but it was open. Ace pulled his hand free and rose to his feet, eyes already back on the ship. He nodded, giving her the go ahead.

Lily Rhodes​

 

[Lily Rhodes]

The Pilgrim's Rest slowly came to life, lights flickering once through her interior before settling as the engines thrummed through her feet as Lily moved through the cockpit, bringing systems online with familiarity, something light in her chest. Moving was good, moving meant she was safe. If she never saw Coruscant again she'd be all the happier for it.

She stopped as daylight spiled through the viewscreen as the hangar doors shuddered open, she blinked, her gaze moving to Acier, his face as stony as it had been when he'd slammed into the stormtroopers hours ago. Something heavy settled in her chest. It felt wrong to leave him behind to not offer...but he was part of the Covenant, a Sith, and he had made it clear from the get go this was about getting her free.

He'd never mentioned himself.

Lily took a breath. lifting her fingers from the console before the cockpit folded around her and she appeared in front of him, she took a quick step forward and hugged him tight.

"Thank you." she whispered.

She released him, stepping back and offering him a small sad smile before the air folded around her once more setting her back in the cockpit, brushing tears from her face as she settled into the pilots chair, taking the controls in her hands, the engines shifted, humming loudly as she lifted the ship from the hanger floor and launching out of the open doors. coruscant skyline was blurred with smoke, the warzone had yet to settle fully into the hollow quiet that always followed.

Lily didn't look, she couldn't bear it.

The pilgrims nose angled for space, breaking atmosphere into a space littered with half broken warships, a battle still rolling to clear up remnants of the Empire's defence fleet. she hugged close to debris larger than her, avoiding detection as best she could while the navicomputer calculated jump coordinates. When the soft chime told her it was ready her hand hesitated, her mind reaching back towards Coruscant's surface, to Acier to offer a single word.

Survive.

The stars stretched into lines as hyperspace swallowed her.

Acier Moonbound

 

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Coruscant

Equipment:
Acolyte Robes | Lightsaber | Cybernetic Arm

The hangar filled with engine noise as the Pilgrim's Rest came alive. Ace stood where he was, watching as the ship lifted. Then she was in front of him again, fast, the shift in the Force came first, then the contact. She'd pulled him into a hug and Ace went still. He didn't return it, but didn't pull away either. He just… let it happen.

She thanked him, then she was gone again. The air folded, her presence vanished, and she was sealed back in the cockpit like it had never happened at all.

Ace exhaled, watching the ship vanish into the light beyond the hangar doors, leaving only the fading hum of engines and the distant chaos of Coruscant behind it. Silence settled in its wake.

He stood there a moment longer, eyes fixed on the empty space where it had been. Then he felt the Force shift, a single thread brushing across his awareness.

Survive.

His jaw tensed slightly. Of all the things she could've said… Ace let out a quiet breath through his nose, almost a scoff.

"Yeah."

His gaze dropped briefly to his hand - the same one she'd grabbed, the same one he'd used to pull her to her feet. His fingers flexed once. There was no trace left behind. Just pressure and memory.

Pragmatism, he reminded himself. That's all it'd been.

Ace turned away from the open hangar, from the light, from the path she'd taken out of the city. Coruscant was still burning, the storm hadn't cleared, and there was still work to be done.

He stepped back into the shadows of the hangar, expression settling back into something harder, sharper, and controlled. Whatever she chose to do out there, he had his own path.

-END-​

Lily Rhodes​