Private Under Siege

[Sophelia Ardemark]

Acier Moonbound

It wasn't the beasts that threatened to take out the settlement that worried Sophelia the most. Or the fact that she'd been stranded here for close to a standard week. It was the look of hunger in everyone's eyes. That growing, feral desperation that starvation can cause. Comms were down. They'd been cut-off from the spaceport. And so far, every scouting party that had gone out hadn't come back. They were barely keeping the juvenile zillo beasts from breaching the walls. Soldiers were on double shifts.

On no food.

The Council had sent her here to track down a healer to help find answers for the spreading sickness on Naboo. No one had known about the beasts coming back on Malastare. Or warned her until it was too late and she was stuck with everyone else, trapped within the fort's walls. Even though an outsider, she quickly made herself useful in the settlement, volunteering in the field hospital. Golden locks of hair were braided back and bound up into a loose bun. Wispy feathers managed to break free and frame her tired face. Unwrapping a pain of dwindling bandages, she applied them around a soldier's mangled leg. They were almost out of bacta...and everything else. Dipping a cool compress into water,she moved to press it against his blistering forehead.

She frowned, knowing signs of infection when she saw it.

Even as hunger gnawed in her lower belly.

It had been a few days since she'd last eaten. She'd offered her last rations to the patients. Probably stupid.

There was a call outside from the commander. "VOLUNTEERS. WE'RE ASKING FOR VOLUNTEERS!" They were trying again. Sending a group out among the beasts to get to the spaceport.

 

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Malastare

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

Malastare hadn't exactly been on Ace's itinerary. Then again, he didn't really have one... guess that had been the point.

A few days away from D'Qar had turned into wandering wherever fuel, credits, and whatever passed for instinct took him. After Shiraya's Sanctuary, Ace had needed the distance. From Lorn, the Vanguard, the High Republic, and the increasingly complicated list of people who probably wanted him arrested again.

Malastare had seemed as good a place as any. Right up until it wasn't.

Ace crouched atop a section of the settlement's outer wall, staring across the wasteland beyond. Tic stood beside him, the BD-unit's head swiveling as another distant roar rolled across the landscape.

"Yeah, yeah." Ace muttered. "I heard it."

Tic chirped.

"No. Still not going to see what made it."

He chirped again.

Ace glanced sideways. "Because it hasn't come here."

There was another questioning whistle from the droid.

"If that changes, we'll go."

The look Tic gave him somehow managed to feel judgmental. Ace sighed and dropped from the wall. He'd arrived shortly before the routes back toward the spaceport became inaccessible. Since then, he'd kept mostly to himself, helping where he could without explaining much about who he was or why he'd been traveling alone. Nobody seemed particularly interested anyway, they had bigger problems.

Ace knew hunger. He recognized it in the hollow faces and increasingly possessive looks whenever supplies changed hands. People spoke less, watched each other more, and soldiers patrolled the walls exhausted, running double shifts on empty stomachs while something large enough to shake the ground waited outside.

The beasts were dangerous, but desperate people could become dangerous too. Ace had seen enough of both.

Tic hopped down after him as Ace crossed the settlement, weaving between soldiers and civilians until a shout cut through the surrounding noise.

"VOLUNTEERS. WE'RE ASKING FOR VOLUNTEERS!"

Ace stopped. They needed another scouting party. For a moment, he simply stared toward the gathering soldiers. He wasn't Vanguard out here. Nobody had given him a mission, and nobody was expecting him to fix anything.

That should've made walking away easier, but it didn't.

Ace exhaled through his nose. "Of course."

Tic chirped brightly beside him.

"Shut up."

Ace changed direction and approached the commander.

"I'll go."

Sophelia Ardemark ​

 

[Sophelia Ardemark]

Sophelia felt that whisper in the force. Something she couldn't ignore. It had been something similar on Pelagon. Before the Sith Covenant came. That silent urgency that had saved her life and a few others. She knew better than to ignore that feeling. Letting a gentle trickle of the force move through her fingers, they began to glow with a soft, golden light as healing energy dipped into that shivering soldier.

His blistered, fever skin began to cool and his shivering slowly eased.

It was all she had to give for now. Wiping her hands on her dark brown pants, she rose, slinging a small medbag over one shoulder. There was a small group next to the commander. The group blocked her view of Acier Moonbound for now. Someone she would recognize immediately. But her attention was focused only on the commander. Shoulders squared and posture straightened. One that brokered no argument. The stance of a noblewoman who was used to getting her way.

"I'm volunteering." Azure blue eyes snapped to the commander, chin lifted as she saw the hesitation spark in his eyes looking her over.

"This is not up for debate, commander." Voice remained soft but there was nothing timid about it. Her resolve—and the courage behind it—was unmistakable.

"Alright," the commander called, looking over the small group of volunteers. "We'll leave at midnight. Provide us more cover from the beasts in darkness. See you all at the back gate in a few hours!" The people around them shifted. Some saying prayers aloud. Some hands snagging at their clothing as they walked past.

Soph knew they were this village's last hope. This place was a powder keg ready to blow.

 

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Malastare

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

The crowd around the commander blocked most of Ace's view of whoever had spoken, but her voice carried clearly enough. His brow lifted as he listened. There was no hesitation behind it. No attempt to sound braver than she felt. Just quiet, immovable resolve.

Ace lowered his head, eyes closing for half a second as the corner of his mouth twitched. He could respect that.

Midnight made sense. Better visibility for them would probably be questionable, but anything that made it harder for the beasts to notice movement across open ground was worth taking. As the gathering began to disperse, Ace finally caught a clearer look at the woman who'd forced herself onto the expedition. Blonde, tired, and carrying a medbag.

Nothing about her meant anything to him, and he certainly wouldn't have guessed she'd been on Pelagon when the Covenant came.

Ace turned away. A few hours gave him time to make himself useful. He spent part of it near the settlement's rear gate with Tic, crouched beside a half-disassembled comm unit while the BD droid fed him diagnostics. Most of the internal components were intact, it was range that was the issue. Something outside the walls was interfering badly enough that every attempt to punch through toward the spaceport collapsed into static.

"Again."

Tic chirped and rerouted the signal. Static again. Ace frowned, tightening a connection with the edge of a multitool before trying once more. Still nothing.

"Not broken, then."

Tic whistled in irritation.

"Did I say it was better?"

Whatever had cut the settlement off might still be active, which was useful. Less comforting was what one of the soldiers told him afterward. The previous scouting groups hadn't all taken the same route, and yet... the same result.

Ace glanced toward the darkening horizon. So much for simply avoiding wherever the last group disappeared.

Sophelia Ardemark​

 

[Sophelia Ardemark]

Acier Moonbound

Soph used the free time to circle back to one of the elder women in the village. She’d been working closely with her in the clinics that past week. Alice leveled her with a weary stare as she entered.

“Don’t like that you’re going out there, m’dear. You know what happens.”

“We’re running out of time. You know it, too.” Soph’s voice was gentle. Alice wrung out her withered hands.

“Well, girl. You’ve got gumption or stupidity.”

Soph’s lips twitched upward. “Maybe a little of both.”

Alice didn’t smile but her eyes softened. “Take these. Herbs we can spare. A few extra bacta patches.” Alice offered the supplies as Sophelia took them and added them to her satchel.

The older woman hesitated as Soph began to leave. “May the force be with you.”

Sophelia lingered in the doorway, “Thank you.” One last look. Wondering if she’d see her again. If she’d see anyone again. Before turning away and moving on. Toward the rendezvous point.

The group of volunteers was small. Ragtag. Those stronger had already gone before. And failed. Faces were lit only by the stars above and the lights of data pads and beam lights. Some light sticks.

The corner of her eyes caught something familiar. She frowned. Before she could focus, the commander called the group together and to move out as the gates groaned open for their party. Opening to the wild, deadly landscape beyond.

 

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Malastare

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

By the time Ace returned to the rendezvous point, there weren't many volunteers waiting. The settlement had already sent several groups toward the spaceport. What remained was a small collection of whoever was still willing to try.

Ace slipped the multitool back into his pocket as he approached, gaze passing over the handful of volunteers illuminated by datapads and glowsticks. He spotted the blonde woman from earlier among them, medbag still hanging from her shoulder. Apparently she'd meant it.

His attention moved on, he checked the fastening over his lightsaber and shoto beneath his clothes before glancing down at Tic.

"Scanners?"

The BD-unit chirped affirmatively.

"Keep watching the signal too. If anything changes, tell me."

He chirped again.

Then the gates groaned open and conversation around them seemed to die with it. Beyond waited miles of darkness, broken only by the distant silhouettes of Malastare's rocky landscape. Ace couldn't see anything moving out there, but that didn't mean much.

Ace stayed toward the rear, eyes occasionally drifting toward the ground as the group followed the route laid out by the commander. There were tracks everywhere near the settlement. Boots mostly, overlapping enough to make individual trails difficult to distinguish.

At the same time, Ace allowed his awareness to spread through the Force, reaching beyond what his eyes could see. He wasn't searching for anything in particular, just keeping his senses open for the first hint of danger.

Tic remained perched against his back, scanners quietly sweeping the terrain around them. For a while, the only sounds were their footsteps and the distant calls of the beasts somewhere out in the darkness.

Sophelia Ardemark​

 

[Sophelia Ardemark]

Acier Moonbound

Soph's soft-padded boots barely made a sound on Malastare's rocky landscape. She didn't like being out here. Only the occasional cropping of boulders and large rocks gave them any semblance of cover. It felt too open. Too exposed. If she squinted hard enough, she could almost see the dark line of forest on the horizon. That's where they hoped to make it to. A beacon or settlement was on the other side.

They had a long way to go.

Looking more closely at the rocky landscape, Soph noticed there were. Wait. She paused. Earning her a grunt of surprise by one of the other soldiers who had been following close behind.

"Watch where you're going, girl." His shoulder bumped into hers not so accidentally as he marched onward. Soph stumbled but kept her attention on what she'd seen. Footsteps wandering forward to get a better look. Were those holes? More like a cave entrance? A glance behind her. The fort they'd left was already too far away to offer any kind of shelter. Her eyes snagged on light colored hair framing a dark face. She blinked. The caves momentarily forgotten.

Couldn't be.

Shoulders stiffened and she straightened. Voice hoarse. Of course she didn't know him personally. But she knew of him. He looked different than the last holo she'd seen of him. She'd made sure to memorize every single holo of every single face from the Sith Covenant who had been on her world that day. That day that still gave her nightmares. Made her hands tremble. Made her sick during space travel. ((TY Arris Windrun for the best write-up even though we are enemies IC xoxo Soph)).

"Acier Moonbound!" It sounded more like an accusation than a question. Her voice not shouting but cracking and ringing over the quiet landscape all the same.

 

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Malastare

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

The landscape only seemed to grow more exposed the farther they moved from the settlement. Rocky ground stretched around them with little more than scattered boulders for cover, while the distant forest remained little more than a dark line against the horizon.

Ace didn't particularly like it either. His awareness remained spread through the Force as they walked, listening for anything that might warn him before his eyes could. Tic's scanners quietly worked alongside it. So far, nothing beyond the occasional distant call of the beasts.

Movement farther ahead caught his attention briefly when someone stopped. The blonde girl from earlier. One of the soldiers nearly walked into her before shouldering past with an irritated comment. Ace's gaze followed hers toward the rocks for a moment, trying to work out what she'd noticed.

Then she looked back. Ace had already started looking ahead again when his name cut across the quiet.

"Acier Moonbound!"

His brow raised. What? Ace turned, genuinely bewildered. Of all the places in the galaxy he might've expected someone to recognize him, some stranded settlement in the middle of Malastare hadn't exactly made the list.

But it wasn't the recognition that held his attention for long. It was the way she'd said it. Hoarse. Cracking. More accusation than greeting. Ace's expression settled as he properly looked at her for the first time. He still had absolutely no idea who she was, but whatever this was, she clearly knew more about him than he knew about her.

He didn't bother denying it.

"Yeah?"

Sophelia Ardemark ​

 

[Sophelia Ardemark]

Acier Moonbound

She could feel a few looks of the others upon her. Upon them as she stood frozen for a moment. Staring at Acier. She ignored the others. Ignored the cries of the beasts in the distance.

"Yeah?"

She'd been fooled once when she'd faced off against Lysander on Jakku. It had been jarring seeing such an ordinary, young, human face beneath his armor. And seeing Acier Moonbound in person was no different. But it was really his voice - his tone that caught her off-guard. Unassuming. Too ordinary. Not the monsters she'd envisioned them all to be.

It didn't stop her from striding forward. Quickly closing the short distance between them.

"You were there. On Pelagia. At. My. Home with those other monsters!" Hand balled into a fist at her side and before she could think better of it, it snapped forward and up toward his nose.

 

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Malastare

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

She came toward him quickly. Ace didn't move. He simply watched her approach, expression turning cautious as the anger rolling from her sharpened through the Force. Whatever this was, it wasn't simple recognition.

Then she said it. Pelagia... Tapani. For a moment, everything around Ace seemed to fall away. The darkness. The distant beasts. The people surrounding them.

Memories rushed in to fill the space instead. Tapani. The Covenant's campaign. The things he'd done there. The things he'd convinced himself he had to do to maintain his cover. Choices that still followed him long after he'd stopped pretending there had been anything clean about what he'd done.

And now one of their victims was standing directly in front of him... and he didn't even recognize her.

"I--"

The warning came through the Force before the punch did. A brief flicker of intent. The tightening fist. Ace had more than enough time to move. But he didn't. Maybe he deserved it, whatever small piece of justice hitting him could offer.

Her fist connected squarely with his nose and Ace's head snapped backward. It wasn't enough to draw blood, but pain flared across his face and he pinched the bridge of his nose with a quiet hiss.

"Hey! That's enough."

Two of the volunteers immediately moved between them, one turning toward Sophelia while another kept himself cautiously between her and Ace.

"We're not doing this out here. Both of you, back off."

Ace lowered his hand from his nose. His gaze found Sophelia again past the shoulders separating them.

"...Sorry."

His voice remained even. No excuse followed it. No attempt to explain what he'd been doing with the Covenant or why. What else could he even say except "sorry".

When the volunteer in front of him glanced back, Ace simply gestured for him to stand down.

"She's good. Had it coming."

Sophelia Ardemark​

 

[Sophelia Ardemark]

"He's a murderer," he bit out, speaking beyond the shoulders of those who placed themselves in-between the pair. The one in front of her looked back and forth between them. Assessing them both. Her fingers still curled into a fist at her side. Whether to fight for herself or the ghosts of her people, she didn't know. Where she'd made contact with his face, the digits beginning to throb lightly. Good. She wanted to feel the pain. She wanted to -

"...Sorry."

She blinked. Then felt that raw emotion prick her eyes. The thing that always chased the ire. Or was never close behind it. The wave of grief coming so immediate and so uninvited and so unstoppable, all she could do was stare back into those unwavering brown eyes as her own began to fill. She blinked. Feeling the tears that carved down her cheeks.

Later, she'd blame it on exhaustion.

Hunger.

Even though it wasn't entirely true.

The one in front of her finally stepped to the side. The other nodded at Ace. They didn't go far. The irony was that this was more than Lysander had ever offered her. She knew that man would never apologize for what he did. One hand rose quickly, the back of it wiping away the tears she couldn't control. She wavered between feeling ashamed to cry in front of him. And something else. As quickly as the fight came, it seemed to go out of her. And she suddenly felt tired, oh so very tired.

"Why?" Azure eyes never left his as that one word was uttered between them.



Acier Moonbound

 

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Malastare

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

Ace's nose still stung. He rubbed beneath it once with his thumb before letting his hand fall back to his side.

Murderer.

He wasn't going to argue with that one. His attention remained on Sophelia through the volunteers standing between them. Even beneath the dim light cast by glowsticks and datapads, he saw the tears gathering in her eyes. Watched them spill down her cheeks despite her attempts to wipe them away.

That hurt more than the punch had, guilt knotting tighter in his chest. When the man between them finally stepped aside, Ace gave him a small nod before looking back at her. Whatever caution had been in his expression before was gone. His features had softened instead, apology written plainly across them.

Then she asked him. Why? Tic shifted, photoreceptor turning toward him. Ace didn't look at him.

Why? What could he possibly say that would satisfy her? Nothing he said could give her back whatever she'd lost on Pelagia. Nothing could make what he'd done somehow understandable enough that it stopped hurting.

But maybe that wasn't what she wanted. Maybe satisfaction wasn't the point. Closure? Understanding? Ace didn't know. His gaze dropped for a moment before finding hers again.

"I..." He hesitated. "I had to keep my cover." There was no defensiveness behind it, or any kind of attempt to make the words sound like absolution. "I know it doesn't make things better. Or excuse anything..."

Tapani had been one of the moments everything started slipping away from him. He'd buried what happened there beneath the same justification he'd eventually begin using for everything else. So he'd swallowed the guilt. Rationalized the shame. Kept moving. Eventually, something inside him had twisted with it.

A distant roar rolled across the landscape. Ace's head turned sharply toward the sound. Far away, but enough to remind him, and everyone else, exactly where they were. The other volunteers had gone quiet, several lights sweeping instinctively across the surrounding rocks. Ace watched the darkness for another second before turning back to Sophelia.

"We can't do this here." His voice remained gentle, but there was more urgency beneath it now. "But I promise, if you want, I'll... I'll answer whatever you want."

Sophelia Ardemark​

 

[Sophelia Ardemark]

Wait. Was that a little robot on his shoulder? She blinked.

His cover?

Lips pressed into a thin line. Maybe to keep them from trembling. Why couldn't she just be strong? Not show so much emotion? Chest ached at the sudden thought. It's how she felt at the Sanctuary. So far behind the other padawans. Not strong enough. Not fast enough to save...all those she'd wanted to save.

A shudder ran through her.

But her iced azure eyes never left those brown ones in that darkness. Even as the roar rolled across the rocky, exposed landscape. As the other volunteers glanced around, hands going to the little weapons they had. She knew he was right.

And hated it.

"We're far from finished," she whispered and turned quickly, before he could see more traitorous tears fall. See her failure at being strong. With long strides, she marched away. Fingers clenched into tiny, but powerful fists at her sides. Slowly, she uncurled that one that had hit his nose and shook it out.

The Commander turned toward their group and pointed to the rocks and boulders. Giving a sudden harsh order. "EVERYONE HIDE. NOW!" Soph could feel it - not only the danger in the force but the tremor of the ground beneath them - the moment the order went out. Something big was coming. Crouching, she scurried toward that deep, dark maw of a cave opening in the ground she'd seen earlier. Pointing to those who were nearest her.

Acier Moonbound